Her Spirit
by Crazy Mishka
Summary: YYH xover. fiction. What have the spirit detectives gotten themselves into now? A mysterious and secretive family against curiosity and the Reikai Tantei. Higurashi against Koenma and his paranoia. Meet makai and ningenkai, as it was supposed to be.
1. Devotion

Her brother came in everyday. He always replaced the flowers with fresh ones, then opened up the curtains, then sat down near her head. He'd take a deep breath, check the chart of her diagnosis for any changes, and then he'd start a conversation. This visitor always talked to her, and he was the only one who still visited religiously.

Her mother had always wept when she came in, and had been unable to stay for more than fifteen minutes. Her grandfather would come in looking haggard, and that uncomfortable look would turn into guilt after he only took one glance at her before he too left.

But _he_ stayed. Every day her brother sat down beside her and was even reluctant to leave when the time came. And he was the one who had the most reason to stay away; guilt, fear of rejection, fear of hurting her even in her state. _Survivor's guilt_.

I should know. I watch over her, a personal guard for her you could say. I can't help but listen, and hear, and guess. It's given me an understanding of these humans, with all their wayward emotions and confusing ways. I've had lots of time to observe and discover. She _has_ been here for three and a half years- and I've known her most of her life. It's funny how I never really knew her until she couldn't really be.

When the young boy talked, he went far away. Oblivious to his surroundings and me, so I watched over him too, and I observed. Maybe he went to a utopia in his mind, where his sister would welcome him with open arms. _I doubt that_. Once, he had started weeping in his vacant gaze, probably reliving the actions that brought his beloved sister to this state and his hand in those actions.

Even as preoccupied as he was, he always tended to her. Using a wash cloth and a filled basin he'd wet her hair, using a comb and soap he'd cleanse it, and using a brush and towel he'd gently separate each strand and press out the excess water. He'd talk the whole time, never stopping in his recount of the day and the family, telling her how much he misses her and how he was hoping she'll get better. After, he'd braid her hair and place that braid over her left shoulder, always coiling it over her heart, and then hold her hands in his own.

The way he held her hands was confusing; tightly clutching, afraid she'd leave him suddenly – yet it was a gentle embrace, afraid to break her or perhaps scare her away.

I guess I'll never really understand these humans…

.x.

"… I aced another test today. You know the one I was talking about – the do all end all of my Physics class."

_He saw her leaning on the door, gazing curiously yet mildly at him with a smile._

"People think I'm some crazy genius, sis…"

"_What're you doing in here? You know we're not supposed to be in here, hun." She said softly._

"…guess that's why I'm all alone at school."

"_Buyo ran in here." Souta said fearfully. "I can't find him."_

"...no one wants to be friends with a freak, even the guys I join for soccer…"

_She nodded her head and walked into the shed._

"…but you know all about that."

_Suddenly, the well wall he was leaning on collapsed, sending him tumbling into the dry-wells depths. He saw his sister's panicked face and her sprint towards him._

"Mom's got a weird sense of timing, you know your birthday?"

_Just as he was about to close his eyes in despair something clutched his hands. His sister was laying over the edge. "Hold on." Her tears were falling in his face._

"Well it seems she got a boyfriend, awkward huh?"

_She had just pulled him onto solid ground in her embrace when they heard a deep groaning noise. Both sharply glanced at the support timbers as they quivered in their age. _

"_Oh, shit." That was the first time he'd heard her swear._

"He's okay I guess. Grandpa adores him; he bought him a book on old Japanese Legends. You know he's such a sucker for those things."

"_I love you, Souta."_

"Although, Grandpa's tales don't even come close to matching yours, you always told the best stories."

_He was pushed to the ground; his sister's body covering his as the timbers snapped and fell. _

_The ground shook and there was a roaring in his ears._

"I can't wait to hear your next tale; I bet it's going to be great!"

_He could hear the dust and sand collected by age trickling through the setting lumber and debris. His mother was screaming and he could oddly hear her too. And some neighbors were moving the timbers, calling out to them, the shifting wood was echoing up his limbs, through his bones._

"I miss you a lot." It was almost time to leave. The nurse would come soon to usher him away with that pitying look she always wore. "...and I can't wait to hear your voice."

_The last timber was removed and his sister's weight was gone. He had to blink to clear his vision._

"Maybe I'll even be the first you see, ne?"

_His eyes cleared and he pushed away his hysterical mother. His sister was still on the ground._

"I've got to go."

_She wasn't moving._

"Mom said I had to leave as soon as the nurses started to come to your room. Get Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

"_She's alive." He watched them drive her away to the hospital…all his fault._

.x.

I watched him walk away, as usual. He'd always stop to look up at his sister's window; at the flashing blue and pink powers that were testimony to her seizure and power struggles even in her coma-like state. Then he walked through the portal to the shrine steps, I never quite recognized his expression past that place, even though he always stood to look back a second time. I look back with him, knowing what I'll see and knowing that I'll be with him in a short while- it always happened like that.

The portal closes.

An alarm blares. Green power was flaring at a window. The Reikai Hospital is on alert, patient 5-4-0 is having unidentified power fluxes.

.x.

Souta walked up to his room, calling out to his cat. "Buyo, here kitty, kitty, kitty." A small kitten comes out from under his bed; the firemen had given it to him to replace the original Buyo- he hadn't made it out of the well house.

He picked him up and settled him onto his lap to scratch at his ears and belly. "She's looking better today; she was smiling in her sleep. Her hair has grown, she's gonna love it when she wakes up. Her hands have calluses though, and there's muscle definition in her arms." He sighed and scratched the cat's ears. "I worry about what is going on in her head. She has a wild imagination. I don't want to know what it could manifest while she's in this state."

He placed his school books beside his bag, double checking that all his homework was there before he prepared himself for bed.

As he snuggled under the covers holding his kitten close, he recited all of his sister's stories in his head; he never wanted to forget them, or her.

.x.

A worried mother peered into Souta's room, an aged grandfather peering over her shoulder. "This isn't good for him, Jii-chan. He's holding on too hard."

The elder put a hand on his daughters shoulder. "He'll move on soon. If he doesn't we can always help him."

.x.

In the Reikai Hospital, the heart monitor for patient 5-4-0 suddenly cleared. No one heard, and no one saw the patient gasp for air or her heart monitor fluctuate before evening out again. An iridescent glow surrounded the lone occupant of the room, and a soft sigh escaped her lips before there was complete silence once more.


	2. Homecoming

Koenma was pacing around his room nervously- again. I would be too if it were allowed. The power flux from patient 5-4-0 last night had everyone on edge. It had been a four year comatose state, and for someone to suddenly have unidentified power fluxes had been unheard of, but then patient 5-4-0 had always been an odd one.

.x.

'_Oh, shit! Dad's going to catch wind of this soon. I don't know how to handle it!'_ Koenma's pacing caught the edge of a Manila folder hanging off his desk; the papers of patient 5-4-0 were strewn about the floor.

Koenma muttered to himself as he picked up the papers, glancing at each sheet for a clue. "Injured at fifteen…went into coma, spending seven months in a normal ningen hospital…spirit energy flare…moved to Reikai hospital, has power fluxes every night almost exactly on schedule…never showed potential before…lived on a shrine…and DAMNIT!"

Koenma drew his finger to his mouth to suck on the blood. _'Stupid paper…_' He thought darkly. Blowing his hair out of his eyes, he shifted into his teenage form. It was much easier to relax and sulk while still maintaining some form of dignity when you had intimidation and size backing you.

Draping himself lethargically over his chair he braced his head on one hand and settled for a long internal debate.

…

It was only a few minutes later when he 'huph'ed and seemed to throw himself up out of his chair. His strides were purposeful and not a few servants and ogres in the halls dodged his form.

Arriving at the Reikai Hospital, he marched over to the nurse's desk and impatiently tapped his fingers. The nurse ignored him still and was watching out the window, craning her neck from side to side as if searching for something she knew should be there.

Koenma fumed and was about to make a statement to grab her attention when the nurse abruptly opened the window and seemed to peer at some point, head sticking more than a foot out of the building.

Curious, Koenma too looked out. A car was pulling up to the hospital and a young boy was just coming out.

"Souta! You should listen…"

"No!" The boy shouted to the driver, a middle aged woman with short cropped hair. "She's going to come back! I know she will, she made me promises and she always keeps her promises."

The woman seemed to wilt. "Souta, she doesn't have to come back to us. She might be happy where she is…"

"No! She told me! Shut up Mom!"

"Souta!" Now the woman was angry. "Get back in the car now! I'm taking you home. Until you show me and Jii-chan some respect you won't come here! She'll not wake up…"

"You can't make me!" The boy yelled with tears in his eyes. He turned and ran up the steps into the building, and the nurse turned expectantly to the doors, but she happened to spot Koenma.

"Eep!" She jumped.

"It's so nice of you to notice me." Koenma drawled lazily before he turned to watch the doors. The nurse glanced cautiously at him; he could see it with his peripheral vision. It made him smirk inwardly; it was nice to know that he had _some_thing of a reputation.

The boy walked into the hall, straight past the nurse's desk. It seemed he came here enough that he didn't need to ask for directions. There seemed to be a black cloud around him, and the tear tracks on his cheeks were being hastily wiped off with his jacket sleeve.

The nurse was looking at him sympathetically, and when he glanced at the two of them, the boy seemed to get more irate. Koenma glared at the nurse, '_Since when did we have dimwits on the staff? This is a Reikai hospital, where patients are dangerous if you unnerve them, even if you do it unknowingly._'

The boy stopped before a room and took a deep breath, his hand resting on the handle. The air around the boy shifted, creating a shimmer of effect before vanishing. He went into the room, and he closed the door.

Koenma turned to the nurse, who had a dazed expression of pity on her face. "N_ow_ will you be of aid?"

She blushed into reality and went about the desk to shuffle papers around. '_She's probably trying to look busy._' Clearing her throat and fighting her blush she looked up to him. '_Finally_.'

.x.

(_"Kagome?"_)

.x.

"Yes sire?" She managed out. It ended in a squeak.

Koenma sighed. "I'm looking for patient number," he glanced at the folder in his hands, "5-4-0."

.x.

_(The figure turned its head and smiled at the boy._ )

.x.

The nurse's eyes widened. "This is about last night, isn't it?" She leaned forward conspiratorially. "That was a freaky experience, even for the Reikai. She seemed to go into her normal fit, sir, and then bam! All the aids were blasted into the walls. There's rumor going around that she's been cursed."

"Just take me to her." Koenma growled out, interrupting her before she could start even more pretentious gossiping. Cowed, the nurse aid turned to point at the door the boy just walked into.

.x.

"**KAGOME**!" A shout came from the room.

All the nurses and aids came running, afraid for the safety of a boy that had grown on them because of the care he took of his comatose sister. Koenma and the aid from the desk arrived before everyone else, and they threw open the door.

The brunette was on the bed weeping. _'Is she gone?_' But the boy was smiling, when he nuzzled his face into the woman's stomach it was presented, encased in his joyous tears. The woman herself was smiling gently, albeit wryly, at the young boy and was slowly rubbing his back in comforting circles.

She braced herself to sit up, and she lifted the boy to look at his face. _'She should be weak! It's been four years since she's moved!'_ Koenma gawked.

.x.

Souta was sniffling and chanting her name, over and over and over. Afraid this was a dream. '_I knew it! I knew it! Oh Kami, I have my sister back!_' He was holding her hand and touching her face, delighting in the play of muscles beneath her fingers. '_She_ is _awake!_'

She placed her free hand over his and leaned in close, until their foreheads were touching. "I'm here, and I am not leaving." He closed his eyes to stem the flow of tears laughing brokenly in his joy. "Souta, I promised you, now cease your tears."

'_She's talking different now…but she's back! O, Kami she's back_.' Souta hugged her close, his face between her neck and shoulder.

She sat up straighter, pulling the young boy into her lap and hugging him as he curled into her form. When he was just sniffling and wiping his eyes, and radiating contentment she addressed the rest of them. "Now, could someone tell me exactly where I am?"

.x.

The dense nurse aid stepped forward as Koenma watched quietly from his position. "You are in the Reikai hospital; you've been here for three and a half years, in a coma for over four. You should let him go. You need to regain your strength." The aid moved to take the boy from the female ignoring a warning look and some wary nurses.

The boy cowered into the woman, clutching her hospital gown sleeves. "You will _not_ touch my otouto," stated a strong voice.

All the nurses backed a few paces away from the irate female.

Koenma himself was hard put to stay in his place. The demi-god prince of Reikai would never show such weakness to a female, even one such as patient 5-4-0.

He cleared his throat and gestured for the nurses to leave. Tense as they did, they all cast worried glances to the boy in the patient's arms. A doctor glanced in to check on the patient and the commotion, but he quickly left as well. The patient was irate and the prince was in a superior mood.

_Oh, shit._

"Inform his father."

.x.

"You will need to release the child."

'_Child?'_ Souta bristled in his sisters arms.

"You will address my brother with respect. You will also explain why you are here." She glared at the prince,

Souta glanced up at the intruder. '_I just got my sister back and this pompous ass is making her mad._' He scowled at the demigod, not really caring that he held prestige and power. "Do you have a problem?"

Koenma only spared him a glance. "Your power flares, every day slightly after six 0'clock. You were a containment problem. I had just arrived to check on your recent shift in power when the boy arrived." He sent a withering glare at Souta. "I will need to talk to you and discuss any possible reasons for the flares."

Souta glanced up at his sister, she was _not _leaving him. He turned to glare at the demigod. "You can question her later."

Koenma gaped.

"I need to tell Okaa-san and Jii-chan. They'll need to talk to her, family gets first priority in the Higurashi house."

"You'd do well to remember that." She concluded for her brother. _'Yoshi! My sister's back!_' Koenma left the room to contact the family.

Souta grinned up at Kagome. "Welcome home." She turned _her_ smile back at him, the one he used to see every morning when she woke him up. "You will tell me what you went through, ne? I think it was probably a very cool adventure!"

She just smiled indulgently, before it turned mischievous. "You would never guess."

…

It was only a half hour before their mother and grandfather walked in, a dazed look of confusion marring their normally peaceful features. Souta grinned mockingly at them; the harsh words of the argument that extended form their house all the way to the hospital ringing through his head.

'_Take this. She's awake, and she's back. She kept her promise to _me_.' _

It was a stilted conversation, and the air was tense with the awkward souls of the once close family. Finally, the elders decided to just accept that Kagome was awake as fact and leave.

Kagome's eyes were solemn as she watched them go, and Souta didn't know what to think about that face. "Have I changed that much Souta-kun?"

He startled and looked his sister in the eye. She looked lost, not a little confused, and she had a longing there. "If you have it doesn't matter." She glanced at him in surprise. "You're my sister. That's what I want you to be and that's what you'll always be." _'No matter who we are.'_

She seemed to hear the unspoken promise and she smiled at him. As she pulled him close to rest near her side he couldn't think of a spot he wanted to be in more. After all, being near his sister was like walking into the sunrise after a dark night: it was warming and energizing, yet it carried an underlying sense of peace, a serene acceptance of the balance and cycle of life that made you relax and bask in the joy yourself. _'And my sister is my sun.'_

As she held his hand a grin slowly made its way onto his face. It was time for a story.

"Long ago, when man and beast…."

.x.

Koenma scowled in his office, folding his hands with his elbows on his desk to rest his weary head. _'The impertinence of that family! They should show some form of respect!' _He glanced at the clock impatiently.

"Where are my detectives!"

"Hold ya horses. We're here. No need to have a temper tantrum." Koenma twitched; there was only one person who could irritate him with his first few sentences. It was just his luck that said person was leader of his Spirit Detectives: Yusuke Urameshi.

"Hurry up and get in." Koenma snapped.

"What seems to be the trouble?" Ah yes, the mediator: Kurama or better known in the human world as Shuichi Minamino.

Koenma sighed and rubbed his temples, he could already feel the headache. "I need two of you to accompany me."

"Accompany you? Where to?" That was the muscle: Kazuma Kuwabara.

A sigh. "Just give me whoever will be best at dealing with a child and a mystery." _God I'm getting old if I can't at least act like the boss…'_

Kurama seemed to perk up at the word mystery. Heaven only knows how much of his curiosity he absorbed from the fox. "What kind of - mystery - is this?"

"A case kind, now hurry up."

"Hn. I will not bother myself to baby-sit a child." So he _was_ present. The forbidden child: Hiei…just Hiei.

Yusuke snorted. "We'd both scare any kid. Kuwabara should go with Kurama. They won't bite the kid's head off at least."

Koenma sighed in satisfaction. Part one accomplished with little difficulty. Now how would the Higurashis react? "Then you two may leave. I need to discuss the …intricacies of this case."

They left without much grumbling, and Koenma had to wonder what was keeping their attention off a mystery they would usually pry into… '_Well at least Yusuke would.'_

Kurama was watching him attentively, he got a small bit of pride that at least one of his subordinates respected him. "The mystery?" Koenma deflated; of _course_ it was about the mystery.

Kuwabara just watched silently, he seemed to be deep in contemplation of some sort. _'It's a miracle…' _Koenma thought dryly before he cleared his throat. "I have a patient – number 5-4-0 – and one family member, her younger brother, who need to be questioned. I also need them observed while their talking, search for untruths and fallacies. I feel that at least the woman will be hiding something."

Kurama tilted his head in scrutiny. "Why do you feel this?"

"They were very unforthcoming on my last encounter." He shook his head,_ 'Very unforthcoming…and very impertinent_.'

Kurama's eyes gleamed with knowledge he was probably going over. He always seemed to pry details out of a conversation, ones that no one else would notice.

Kuwabara smiled gently at the portal that was opening, and at their questioning looks he grinned even more. "I think this is going to be fun."

'_Those words take on an ominous tone.'_

.x.

They walked down the hall, passing a group of nurses all chatting excitedly in the corridor. As they passed they fell into hushed silence, making Kuwabara wonder just exactly what was going on. Nonetheless, when kids were involved, their boss was probably blowing something way out of proportion.

He glanced at Kurama and grinned. He was in puzzle-bane mode: Kuwabara liked to call him that when he got this exact look about him. His eyes would brighten even in their narrowed state, his brow would furrow slightly, and his fingers would always play with the band on his left middle finger.

Silently encouraged, he focused at the door they were nearing, it was open slightly and he could here the sounds of life.

"…the priestess was a beautiful woman, cold in that beauty yes- but beautiful nonetheless. She did love the prince, but fate had desired a different outcome. Cursed with her eternal suffering, her soul lay in hate and despair until-" the story abruptly cut off.

Koenma opened the door, and the trio found the two occupants of the room staring directly at them.

"What are you doing back?" The boy questioned spitefully.

Koenma cleared his throat. "You'll answer my questions now."

The boy was about to protest before the female gently quieted him. A gleam was in her eye and Kuwabara had to take another glance. With the gleam in her eye and her impossibly long hair she looked exactly like a picture in one of his mythology books. Looking at Kurama proved futile as he was absorbed in examining the boy.

The female smiled mischievously and settled into her pillows. A grand sweeping gesture was made with her hands, indicating the seats to the left of the bed. "Ask away."

Ooh _yes_, the game was on.


	3. Tell Me This

Kurama took the time to study the boy – after all, he would have to pay more attention to the female when she was talking. He was a fairly regular boy, the only thing different about him was his obviously close relationship to a woman that had been in a coma for four years.

A very _regular_ boy, when you looked even closer one had to wonder how he was related to the woman who caused such a rise in their boss. He had the dark chocolate hair standard of most of the Japanese population and the same slight stature, but it was his eyes that set him apart. They were a brown, yes, but they had this shade of dark blue in them that made them seem almost unnatural.

The boy at first grew nervous under his scrutiny, but he turned to his sister and seemed to gain a strange confidence before turning back. His sister didn't even glance at him, he could see her motions in his peripheral vision, but she squeezed his hand and gave a small slightly proud smile. The boy straightened his back and returned his gaze stubbornly- and he _still_ seemed to be connected to his sister.

__

'Odd.'

'Odd? Is it the mystery?' Youko rose from the deep depths set aside for the spirit fox in his mind.

__

'The boy, the girl, separated for four_ years…it just seems odd to me.'_

Youko stirred closer to the surface, using his eyes. It created a sort of double vision, not that he'd tell anyone he could do this. It did not actually seem prudent for them to know the extent of him and Youko's more _accessible_ abilities. And the double vision let him observe things in much sharper detail.

From his view in his mind, Youko seemed to scan everything about the boy in one glance. _'Ningen, close to his sister,_' he cocked his head in curiosity, 'very _close to his_ _sister. Almost as close as a soul bonding, but that would be impossible, especially if she has been in this coma.'_

The boy started to narrow his eyes, obviously bristling under his stare.

__

'I don't think the boy could be that close to her even if she was never_ in the coma. They have a sizeable age difference; it would make a large gap in most human relationships.'_

The female had just turned to the boy; his tense posture had finally broken her staring contest with the prince.

__

'I don't think-'

Just as she female turned to the boy, he interrupted Youko's thoughts. "Stop looking at me like that." He snapped.

__

'OOOOh, I think I'm gonna like this kid.'

"Souta." The girl glanced curiously at him before dismissing him and turning her attention fully to the boy.

Youko was stunned into silence. Any previous comment he was about to make died on his tongue, leaving him looking suitably off-guard and slightly perplexed.

The boy glanced at his sister but didn't look regretful of his snappish comment. If anything, the look he turned on her was innocent enough to make a kitsune proud.

__

'I really _like this boy!'_ Youko, it seemed, had recovered. Kurama could picture him grinning in his head and rubbing his hands together with glee.

She just shook her head and laughed softly, drawing the boy close to her for a quick hug. Then, she looked at him again. _'It's her eyes…'_Youko trailed off.

Kurama looked closer to her eyes, almost exactly the same as her brothers, except for the blue shade almost overtaking the brown…and the expression in them. _'They look like – like_ -'

'They look like veterans eyes.' Youko snapped out, absentmindedly twirling his hands in the mind space to create a version of her eyes.

Kurama nodded in agreement, and was surprised when the female bowed her head in contemplation as she regarded him, her eyes darting between his as she searched for her answer.

Koenma cleared his throat. "The questions?" He spoke rather impatiently. The female bowed her head again. Kurama caught the end of her grin as she wiped it off her face when she looked up.

The boy seemed to glare harder at him before he turned an even darker look to Koenma. "If you want to get our attention at least have the decency to use our names."

Koenma spluttered. The female shushed Souta but you could see the way her eyes danced. '_Oh, boy'_. Koenma always got himself into the worst messes.

.x.

Kuwabara watched the two siblings, he may not notice things that Kurama could but he still could provide valuable insight from time to time. It also helped that this would actually keep his attention.

Kuwabara grinned behind his hand and winked at the boy. The boy regarded him suspiciously at first before grudgingly nodding his head. It seemed the boy just wanted time with his sister._ 'I can respect that…this is a _family_ Koenma is butting into. I wonder if he realizes that.'_

The female looked expectantly towards Koenma when he opened a folder. She seemed to grow confused for a moment, but then the prince stopped flipping pages and seemed to scan down a certain paragraph. "Miss – _Kagome_ - then."

She bristled, her eyes narrowing at the perceived insult. _'What is he doing? The idiot!'_ Kagome looked ready to split hairs and the boy – Souta - was making his way off the bed.

His form seemed to hunch over with his anger – _'He's had no fighting experience' _– and the dark aura swirling about him almost made Kuwabara dizzy. He had to take a step back to watch the boy approach his boss.

Koenma sniffed haughtily before the boy started to pull a fist back. So quickly he almost didn't catch her movement, Kagome was holding the boy in her embrace and whispering in his ear.

__

'She can move that fast?' Kuwabara shook himself out of his daze. _'How can she even move at all?'_

"You would do well to show us some respect, young Prince." Kagome stated. "One could prove to be difficult when they believe there is nothing to be gained from a conversation, more so when they were belittled as such."

Kuwabara glanced at Kurama out of the corner of his eye. The fox looked decidedly pleased, not that one who didn't know him could tell. It also helped that Kuwabara had a stronger sixth sense now; he could examine the auras. When he was really familiar with them he could even transfer some of his energy by manipulating it to suit theirs.

Kurama just happened to be delighting in the torture he was too polite to indulge in. Kuwabara stifled another snicker behind his hand. This would _definitely_ keep his attention; one only had to wonder if Koenma would get fed up before too long.

The boy glanced at him in confusion before a wry smile quirked his lips. He sighed and nudged his sister to the window seat, carefully situating himself behind her as they settled. "Let them ask then." He sniffed with good humor.

__

'I'm starting to like this kid.' He's got a lot of spunk.

Koenma sighed with long suffering as he took a chair like it was his throne. Elegantly – _'pompously is more like it'_ – settling the robes of his station about him like he was the Queen of France.

Souta giggled and started to play with his sister's hair.

"Now, I need you to tell me how you got to be like this."

Kagome blinked innocently, -_ 'it's anything but innocent if the gleam in her eye is anything to go by'_ – before she demurely set her hands in her lap and smiled. "Well, I remember the fire; I guess that was four years ago wasn't it?" Souta nodded, not that she could see, and she continued. "I covered Souta with my body when the well house collapsed…and I woke up here! End of story." She grinned at Koenma's deadpanned expression.

Kuwabara heard Kurama choking on his laughter but he had no such qualms about voicing his mirth. The loud boisterous laugh filled the hospital room.

Souta actually grinned at him this time and squeezed his sister's shoulder in reassurance- to himself or her he didn't know. Kurama calmed down and placed forth his question, "Do you remember anything from the period in between?"

"Oh my, I got asked an actual question? And he asked it with some manners? I didn't think you three had any!" Kagome mocked with a sugary voice, placing one hand to her cheek with her acting.

Kuwabara watched his boss' face burn with anger and decided to step in. "Forgive us; we weren't aware our boss hadn't explained previously." Now Koenma was glaring at him. _'Oh Joy.'_ "My name is Kazuma Kuwabara, call me Kuwabara if you like."

Kurama was drawn out of his daze and gave a slight bow over her hand, kissing the back of it lingeringly. "Minamino Shuichi…but please call me Kurama." Kagome blinked as a blush spread across her cheeks and Souta glared at the fox.

"Yes, yes, and I'm Enma junior, Prince of Reikai and boss to the Spirit Detectives." Enma started out rather petulantly and ended rather proudly.

Kagome snickered. "Well I'm Higurashi Kagome," she straightened up importantly, "older sister to Souta Higurashi and shrine miko to Higure shrine." Souta grinned and started playing with her hair. Obviously the Higurashis thought the Koenma was being a little too proud.

"My question, Lady Kagome," encouraged Kurama. Her eyes grew distant and the crackle of power in the room took a while to settle. Souta's hands never ceased their action in her hair and Kuwabara realized that he was braiding the thick strands.

"I went far away, yet not. I was here physically, but there as well. I felt the pain and anguish of this plane while I didn't. Tell me Enma, have you ever experienced Nirvana?" The whole room seemed to still with her question and Koenma openly gaped. She smiled as the hands in her hair continued their soothing motion and glanced to Kurama. "No then, how about Limbo?" Her gaze pointedly remained on the fox.

Souta finished braiding her hair and placed the braid over her left shoulder, where it draped to pool into her lap. Absentmindedly she picked up the end and started playing with the strands.

Kuwabara's gaze was drawn to the braid, its impossible length being tamed in a matter of moments belying the young boy's long practice with a female's hair. But as he stared at the braid his gaze was drawn to her hands.

Her hands were holding the braid like a stranger to life held a flower, cautiously and reverently, as if it was a mirage that could slip through their fingers in an instant.

"Have you ever _meditated_ Koenma?" Her tone was slightly exasperated. She even gave him the nickname he despised in any of his forms. The child Enma.

"Of course I have." He said rather indignantly.

"Ah yes, then you know of the half state you desire to achieve- the supposed achievement of enlightenment?" Koenma gaped.

"You're not telling me you achieved that state from a knock to the head!"

She blinked innocently. "No, I'm not. I'm drawing allusions to help you understand how I _felt_." Kurama was glancing speculatively at her hands now, watching the way they gestured he guessed.

"How you felt?"

She smiled at him, it was a gentle smile. It was one that had all the patience in the world and more to spare; along with a warming dose of compassion and wisdom. It spoke to his soul.

"Hai, I felt my spirit. I was connected to my spirit like in meditation, yet I was here." She glanced lovingly at her brother and pulled him into her lap. "I was listening and feeling and thinking." Her brother grinned shyly, a blush spreading over his cheeks, and bowed his head. Her smile turned loving as she squeezed his hands in her embrace.

"So…what exactly did you experience with the spiritual side of this – Limbo?" The red-heads question caused Kagome to look down at her brother. He seemed to sense her emotion and snuggled deeper into her embrace.

__

'It's rather odd that he's almost twelve and they still act like they were children. Granted very smart_ children, but they crave the same level of comfort a young child seeks in its family.'_

The siblings seemed to ignore everything for a moment of time, treasuring the embrace like water to a dying man.

"It does not matter." Her voice was soft. "I have seen all that I desired to, and I have experienced what was needed of me." She looked up at them; her eyes caught Kuwabara in a tangled web and drew him in.

Despair.

Longing.

Joy.

He gasped and stumbled back putting his back to the wall of the room. She gazed steadily at him before she turned away ashamed.

"What do you remember Souta-kun." The boy seemed to grow annoyed at the honorific but he settled when his sister kissed the crown of his head.

__

'Thanks are to Kurama!' Kuwabara cheered in his head. If it was one thing that Kurama was good at it was diverting attention from the important things. Kuwabara took a steadying breath before he studied the duo more closely.

As Souta told his version of the well house disaster and his sister's stay in the hospital Kuwabara found something he thought he'd never see.

And it scared him.

He snapped back into reality when a dominant presence approached the room. Lord Enma.

"Son…" He seemed to thunder as he stepped into the room. Thankfully he was in his more humanoid form. _'I guess he needs to fit through the doors.'_ He mused distracted.

"D-daddy?" Koenma stuttered out. Enma bowed gracefully to the room before he gestured to his son.

They disappeared down the hall, leaving the room in silence. A soft sigh drew them to the Higurashi siblings. Souta was curling into his sister and blinking his eyes sleepily.

With a start Kuwabara realized that he had probably had a long day. Koenma had said he came here every day after school and usually only stayed until six 0'clock. It was getting close to nine at the moment. "Hey kid…"

Kagome's hand stopped him and he settled back. He watched with avid fascination as Kagome stroked her brother's head, running her hands through the dark strands, the soothing action causing his eyes to droop even more. Eventually he curved into his sister's embrace and drew his legs up into her lap, curled up much like his kitten would in it's basket. Souta yawned tiredly and fell into a light doze looking content and comfortable.

Kagome just kissed his forehead and slowly rocked, nuzzling into his hair when he whimpered and speaking softly when he frowned in his sleep.

No one broke the silence.

Even when Koenma came into the room, he was unusually subdued and calm. Taking in the room's occupants he curled his left hand in a come-hither gesture towards his detectives.

And silently they left the room.

In the hall Koenma started pacing and muttering under his breath. When he stopped he spun to face them and had a scowl on his face. "Either one or both of you will stay the night. I have business with the Reikai court and Miss Higurashi needs to be monitored extensively as long as she is in the hospital." He sighed taking a suck on his pacifier – '_Disgusting habit if you ask me._' "I'll come to see you in the morning and to get her papers cleared." He looked about to add something, but he decided against it and gave them a sharp nod of his head as he stalked away.

They watched him until he was out of sight around the halls corners and simultaneously turned to regard each other.

"I rather enjoy their company." Kurama offered.

Kuwabara nodded. "I'm staying too."

Nodding at him Kurama entered the room first. Kuwabara followed just in time to glance the four year patient of a coma carrying her sleeping twelve year old brother towards her bed and tucking him in.

Kurama pointedly looked out the window and Kuwabara turned to look both ways out the hall before slowly closing the door.

The room was quiet but it was a comfortable silence, and it was only as they settled down into their posts for the night was when they noticed Kagome's gaze on them. They glanced at her in question and she offered an impish smile as her eyes curved. "You guys wouldn't mind telling me how you got involved with the Spirit Realm, would you?"

"I'll only answer if you answer a few of our own questions."

"One for one." She smiled indulgently.

Kuwabara sighed. "How much do you know about the three realms?"

"A lot. You'd be surprised at how many of the nurses' gossip." She shook her head in exasperation before looking expectantly at him.

He blushed. "One of my friends is more involved than me, and once I helped him save our town. I kind of just got pulled in after that." Kuwabara finished sheepishly.

Kurama only glanced at her calculatingly before posing his question. "Do you know anything about the power surges or your 'power seizures' as they call it?" His gaze seemed to intensify as he stared straight into her eyes.

A small satisfied smile appeared on her lips, and a faint whisper brushed along Kuwabara's senses and disappeared before he could catch it. "I'm a shrine maiden, a _miko_ if you will." Kurama shifted slightly- almost unnoticeably. "My powers needed to be balanced with my spirit, hence the meditative state."

Kurama sighed. Kuwabara felt his pain; this woman could answer questions while not giving any real answers.

.x.

"I am on probation." Kurama said shortly almost ready to end his story there, until he caught the look in her eyes. It looked hurt and disappointed, like he had cheated her with the four word answer to a loaded question. Youko was laughing in the recesses of his mind. "I turned myself in to help my mother through a sickness. Yusuke, our leader, helped me through it and now I'm doing 'community time' while repaying an actual debt to the Detective."

That was as vague as he could possibly be without revealing too many details. Youko snickered, closer to his awareness this time._ 'I'm enjoying this.'_

'Oh, pray tell what you find so amusing fox.'

They both stopped to silently question their sanity; especially when they used the nickname Hiei had given them on each other.

Youko snorted the first to break out of his stupor_. 'I would know, seeing as she has a personality that I would have respected when I was in a more physical form.'_

'Personality?'

'Wait 'til we all get together. Then we can compare details with the oaf, he looked like he had an epiphany earlier.'

Kurama shrugged and settled deeper into the crevasse of the window seat.

He noticed Kuwabara settling into the chair closest to the door and stretching his legs out discreetly to block anyone's entrance. _'Good thinking.'_ He silently praised him.

Kuwabara looked up at him with his half smile and nodded towards the lone female. She was arranging the blankets around Souta and taking away the extra pillows. Smiling softly she approached Kuwabara.

Confused, he sat up straighter, almost about to inquire if she needed anything until she braced a pillow behind his head and arranged a blanket over him. Kurama's advanced hearing caught her whisper. "Don't think I didn't notice- and thank you." Kuwabara blushed.

She walked over to him lifting his head to place a pillow behind his neck; the blanket she placed around him was warm from her arms and was gently tucked in around his form. Youko purred, _'I think she just wanted to feel us up.'_

Kurama would have blushed if he didn't pride himself on his control. But he did almost jump at the whisper addressed to him. "Watch yourself fox; my brother is very…protective."

Silently she returned to her bed and slid in next to her brother. He sighed and turned into her warmth, and she blocked him from the detectives view. She moved around a bit then settled embracing her brother like he was her own child. "Good night." She whispered before her breathing evened out.

__

'Did she just warn us_ away from something?' _Youko questioned in astonishment.

Kurama's lips tilted into a smirk_, 'It would seem that this puzzle is our strangest one yet.'_

Youko was positively gleeful._ 'Bring it on.'_


	4. Higurashi

Here's the update! I was away from my baby all yesterday (God, I'm deprived.) so I only could get it up today. I'm not really sure I like one of my pov's in this chappie so I might revise it. Enjoy the chapter and please check outthe newer one shot I did to clear up my writers block! Love you all!

Oh yes, forgive my spelling mistakes, its around 1:30 am here...no wait it just turned 2:00.

I think I keep forgetting the **Disclaimer**. _Obviously _since I posted this story on and _didn't_ try to post it on I know that Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi respectively (Although I wouldn't mind borrowing their characters for a weekend .). So there XP. I'm never doing another disclaimer-once is torture enough…

…Kuronue is MINE! darts eyes about acting paranoid and drags Kuronue away from his saviors…I mean the lawyers .u

.x.

.x.X.x.

.x.

Those two Spirit world officials were still here. And Souta wanted to talk to his sister without someone hovering nearby…how rude. It's been four years and there was so much to talk about! So many stories were waiting to be heard and so many looks wanting to be shared; so much laughter to be let and so many smiles to be given. _And_ those two redheads were getting annoying.

The bigger one wasn't so bad, he lost focus once in a while but he was pretty cool. He was like a big kid himself - _almost_ as awesome as his big sister. He was a real softie that much was easy to tell. He would always watch him with this look in his eyes; like he knew something important was going on- Something that no one else was savvy to.

'_Oh, there I go…_' Kagome had told him a story about pirates to pass that time away.

She seemed to be saving the better stories…or she was getting back into the swing of things. Her stories always seemed to crawl into your imagination and create the most exhilarating and real experiences. You could feel everyone's emotions; you could actually _taste_ the mist and smell the forest. Kagome could take you into the future with its outlandish culture and machines, she could take you into the Amazon jungle to native tribes and cannibals, or she could take you down the street into your neighbor's life; once, she eventook him into the _past_. And in any setting… her stories found a way to change the way you look at something.

He grinned rakishly-_'Or they found a way to make you act like one of the characters.' _The story from this morning was on the high seas, and his favorite character was a lookout called Rat. He was always either up in the birds nest or scurrying around the mast and sails, accomplishing quick movement and acrobatic feats to get from one end of the ship to the other.

He also was known to say either '_savvy_' or a slow '_no_' to any yes or no questions. Souta just happened to be unconsciously mimicking his character. The two siblings had made a game of this when they were younger. If you caught yourself doing just that you had to annoy your sibling until they guessed which character you imitated.

Souta grinned.

Looking around his grin slowly changed into a frown. His sister wasn't in the room…and neither was the smaller redhead. Scowling now he shoved himself off the bed and stormed towards the door. He stopped and looked at it for a moment, contemplating his course of action. The door was eventually opened, slowly, an inch at a time, letting Souta listen to conversations that were being carried out in the halls.

He could hear his sister- And Minamino.

.x.

Youko was positively delighted. The female Higurashi sibling was proving to be more of a puzzle than even he had anticipated. She also wasn't fawning over him…which was a plus.

'_Ask that question again! Do it!'_

Kurama almost sighed. Youko had been acting up outrageously; it seems that Higurashi acted like she had experience with kitsune tricks. She had either dodged or parried his answers with veritable ease and it was driving Youko crazy with his curiosity.

_You're treating her like a new toy._

Youko grinned rather lecherously. _'I wouldn't mind having her for a toy.'_ His face sobered into a mildly curious expression as he watched Kagome through their overlapped senses. _'Seriously, she does interest me. She has that feel about her.' _He sat gracefully – with kitsune everything was either graceful or playful, even when being intimidating – in a chair of vines and stone crafted from their imagination.

'_That 'feel'?'_

'_You wouldn't know it; humans who were in contact with demons for extended periods of time got an otherworldly feel to them. Demons knew who to avoid – they were not an easy kill if they had previous experience with demons. The touched might also be claimed by these demons, and harming a demon claimed was suicide in the days.'_

Kurama sighed internally and almost gave in to cursing the fates for his counterpart's personality. "What did you experience that you need to know about?"

A sly look was in her eyes, and Kurama could almost see the smile trying to force its way onto her lips…

'_Oh, those lips...'_ Youko said quite solemnly. _'Those lips that probably have said more to her brother in stories than us in the whole time we've been questioning her.'_

"I believe, Minamino-san, that I told you it doesn't matter." She surreptitiously flipped a stray bang over her shoulder, and set about idly smoothing the creases in the silk pants her brother had brought in for her.

'_Everything about her is so calculated.'_

'_She's on her guard.'_

It was stated so bluntly Kurama blinked in confusion.

Suddenly the boy's presence was at their side and he was glaring up at him through his untamed bangs. He gently took his sister's elbow and started to guide her towards her room.

She smiled amusedly at her brother as she allowed him to take her away from _him_. Kurama smirked slightly and followed, this boy was always amusing.

.x.

Kuwabara had watched the boy contemplate whatever happened to grace his mind and wondered at his naiveté. No it wasn't naïve; it was purity that clung to this boy. Despite what tough years fate had dealt him he had maintained his innocence.

Kuwabara was looking at _life_. This wasn't a twisted rendition of the jaded veteran. This was the pure and unadulterated joy one got from merely living. This boy simply_ lived_ each day and enjoyed it through all that was said and done.

It was refreshing to say the least. Kuwabara had grown up in the area of the Bosozoku. Violence and crimes were rampant in his part of town and innocence was destroyed or exploited.

But here was some little piece of it all, protected and encouraged. Kuwabara could make out the thin wrappings of his sister's aura on the boy's soul; he had to wonder how she came up with the technique and how close the siblings were _before_ the coma.

From what he could tell the family was _the_ family.

Poor Koenma really didn't know what he had got himself into.

Kuwabara was drawn out of his thoughts by the arrival of a silently fuming Souta. His sister he was pulling in behind him and she had this oddly bemused and wistful smile on her lips. It made for a funny picture and only more so when Kurama trailed in leisurely after them.

Kurama's smirk belied his amusement and Kuwabara had to wonder how much information he got out of the woman.

He shook his head to clear out the useless thoughts and watched the siblings. He had found he enjoyed watching them, and he had been watching them more than he usually watched anything else.

He was just about to laugh when Kagome-san cuffed her younger brother in the head for a random comment she took playful offense to when the nurse came in.

She was nervous, and rightfully so he mused. Talk of the siblings had spread through the whole hospital. _'I have even heard the aids talking about them near the bathrooms on the first level!' _

The Higurashis were becoming the protective entity at the Reikai Hospital, and nurses had been warning each other to be as cautious and polite as possible so as not to upset either one of the siblings.

For the miniscule twenty-four hours the siblings had been together, they sure raised a lot of hell.

She,_ 'the nurse that is'_, glanced uncertainly at the sibs before turning to the two detectives. Her face firmed up. "You will have to leave. She is due for her checkup and Koenma told us to inform you that he wants a report."

Kuwabara saw the young man's eyes flare up with distaste. The female just smiled, Kuwabara had to take a second look. Her smile was the innocent but all knowing smile of one at peace with oneself – like Buddha – but on _her_ it looked like she was planning something devious.

'_No not devious but mischievous and fun and …lets just say it looks like she's going to do something.'_

The two detectives nodded and left the room quietly. The nurses were very high-strung now; it wouldn't do to have one startle the young boy.

As they left Kurama turned to him. "I believe I wish to talk to the others before Koenma. In any case, he didn't tell us when to meet him."

Kuwabara smiled. "Lead on Red."

.x.

"How are you feeling?"

"How am I supposed to be feeling doc?"

"Are you dizzy? Maybe even feeling a little weak or sluggish?"

This was the third employee of this hospice to come and check up on her. He obviously didn't get the other doctor's memos.

"No." She gazed longingly over the doctor's head, staring out into a place only she could see. "Can I leave now?" Souta watched the doctors face. He was a specialist, but all he had been doing was annoying his sister. The constant inquiries as to her health and even one brave comment, from a previous doctor, about her _sanity_ had his sister in a dark mood.

He really did pity the next questioner.

Maybe he didn't.

'_If they are questioning her that means they don't trust our family and the Higurashi name. If they question her more that means that they will keep her here longer._' Souta mumbled some choice words under his breath and looked at his wrist watch._ 'Sis needs to be near something familiar for a while.'_

Souta sighed and watched this doctor scribble something on the clipboard she'd brought in with her. His sister's eyes came into focus slowly, and he watched them in amusement.

They were glaring at the scratching pen.

As they narrowed even more, and the scratching got even louder Souta started to get annoyed. _'They are annoying her and its bugging me. How do they treat patients in this hospice if they're always annoying them?'_

He reached over to grab the pen with a sigh. The doctor looked up in surprise before opening her mouth to voice the question.

"We're leaving."

They left her gaping like a fish.

As they walked out into the halls Souta couldn't help but watch his sister. The clothes he had brought from her closet used to fit so much differently on her; and not in the tighter way. The hospital hadn't made her lose weight, if anything she had gained more in muscle mass.

So as she walked, the rather cute ensemble – as it used to look – took on a decidedly tougher yet regal look.

Maybe it helped that she was walking like a predator now.

The virginal white of her blouse with the baby blue vest appeared innocent and guileless until you noticed the arms under the rolled up sleeves- toned and muscular.

Her skirt was long and covering, and looked deceptively naïve, until you heard the determined clip of her army boots on the tiled floors.

As she carried herself so proudly, walking with an innate grace and flow that left him breathless, she turned to smile at him over her shoulder. His sister had never been very tall, cursing the fact that she got her height from their grandparents- but as she turned to look at him, and when she stopped completely to wait for him to catch up, he couldn't help but gawk in awe.

He shivered excitedly. If his sister had changed this much in only her presence, he couldn't wait to see how she would weave her stories.

So he grinned up at her when he reached her side and held her hand as they walked out of the hospital doors. _'Finally…'_

.x.

Kurama had his hand to his chin and his eyes darting about frantically even as they remained unseeing. He was conversing with Youko and it was, as usual – or not so usual due to Youko's maturity levels sometimes – enlightening about the demon cultures and magic rituals of the past.

'_I can only feel the bond between them that means they are related. For a soul bond – the ones usually in the higher demons ranks – they made sure the bonds were almost indistinct until one was put into danger. It's like a sixth sense.'_

'_So demons will sense this when they threaten one of them?'_

'_Hmm, after that it is usually too late to redeem oneself. Interesting trap, really. If a demon has such poor senses that he can't sense a bond then they don't deserve to live. Survival of the fittest you know.'_

Yusuke was grumbling beside him as Kuwabara remained silent. They were looking for Hiei, and the safest bet was always somewhere with space to practice and trees- the parks.

So they walked, and Yusuke complained.

'_Hiei will be interested in this. Did you feel her power? She can control it so easily!'_

Youko nodded absently as his eyes drifted with his thoughts. He was probably looking for the hybrid koorime.

'_She had training…but when?'_

Yusuke laughed as Kuwabara suddenly made an exclamation. Something about the little brother having a kitten he was going to see.

Hiei suddenly appeared beside them, and Kurama was glad that he could still surprise the rest of the team. It meant that he was always training, always improving, and always pushing the rest of them to catch up.

He nodded cordially to Kurama and waited for the initiator to start. Kuwabara surprisingly enough tilted his head towards a convenient bench and started to walk that way.

They had settled before Yusuke sighed. "How were the brats?"

Kuwabara bristled, "Souta is not a brat," He deflated dramatically, "but the woman…."

Yusuke looked up at him without moving his head, his interest was peaked.

"She – I can't say she's a brat - I can't say she wasn't one either." Kuwabara paused in his random speech to glance at Yusuke's reaction.

"She was different that's for sure."

Yusuke stood up fuming. "Alright already! Just tell us."

Kuwabara snickered. _'He seems to enjoy that game….'_

Kuwabara cleared his throat and resettled his lanky body across the bench. "She acts like a kid."

Yusuke looked disgruntled.

"Not really a kid I mean like a kid." He trailed off as he noticed how he was sounding.

Kurama sighed, "What he means is that she acts like a kitsune."

Hiei glanced up sharply and Yusuke had a weird and indescribable expression pass over his face.

Kuwabra sighed. "They weren't brats; they were a very close family that has a growing dislike for our boss."

Yusuke brightened up considerably. "Great! I like them already."

Hiei scoffed. "You said she acts like a kitsune, do you mean in the physical or personal sense?"

Youko grinned within the confines of their mind, absently running his fingers along their souls. _'If she had been acting like a kitsune in the physical sense I wouldn't be here right how.'_

Kuwabara looked confused but he elaborated none the less. "It's in the personal sense. She likes playing word games with you, and she's decidedly playful when she deals with our boss." He glanced at Kurama, probably wondering where his mind went for him to stop his commentary so soon.

'_That's obvious; Hello! I compared her to a kitsune!'_

Kurama smiled genially to hide his inner thoughts and took a breath to join the conversation. "She was in a coma, but she moves around with the ease of a trained fighter."

Yusuke's chuckle trailed off and he stared at him as if he had just told him he didn't know the answer to a teacher's question. Kuwabara nodded emphatically and snapped his fingers out of sheer nervous energy.

Kurama looked at the red head. "What did you notice when we where there?" Kuwabara glanced up nervously. "I saw it, you noticed something and it startled you." That was an understatement, but it wouldn't do to put him on the spot. Kuwabara was a man of pride and wouldn't take lightly to him stating that he was frightened.

'_Or maybe he wouldn't mind…Kuwabara has such an odd sense of pride and morals and perceptions not you never really know.' _Youko drawled lazily in his head, even as he leaned forward uselessly to get a better view of the large detective.

Kuwabara hesitated, this time truly feeling that he didn't want to expose such a piece of information to the group. Yusuke's blatant curiosity and Kurama's inquiring stare urged him on. "The family…that's what they are…" He took a hesitant breath and shifted his weight to one hip. "They are bonded."

Hiei silent a usual, looked off into the distance.

'Bonded? What is Kuwabara talking about? He can't possibly know about youkai bonds.'

'Just ask him then.' Youko sighed in aggravation as he ran his hands through the hair behind his neck.

"A bond?" Hiei asked the question.

Kuwabara sighed. "Wisps of her soul and his are bonded to each other. It's a rather pretty sight." Kurama and Hiei both snapped their heads to look straight at the tall male and stare at him in disbelief.

"Their souls are…?" Yusuke summed up the emotions running rampant through the team.

Kuwabara nodded curtly his gaze trailing off to the unknown and unseen. A smile made its way onto his face and the detectives had to glance at him askance trying to get his attention. It took a few minutes of their staring.

Then it took a few minutes of calling his name.

Then it was a shout of his name.

And finally Yusuke got into his face. "KUWABARA! Earth to baka! Pick up the phone since somebody's home!"

Kuwabara's eyes slowly came into focus and he glanced confused into the eyes of his team mates. "Something up guys?"

Yusuke growled in frustration.

Kurama smiled bemused and cleared his throat. "A bond like that is unheard of…that I know of. She did make references to some miko powers being trained."

Hiei slowly settled himself into the branches of a nearby tree, listening intently to their comments as the conversations continued. Kurama watched him covertly; he could see Hiei making some connections in his mind. He was very curious to find out what.

'_The little firecracker is highly intelligent.' _Youko's eyes glinted in the recesses of his territory. _'It is very possible that he is making connections we wouldn't notice just because of who he is.'_

Kurama nodded in silent agreement before taking up their conversation. _'Do you think he can emphasize because they are family, and he recognizes the bonds like the one with his sister?'_

'_It could be. But then he's probably thinking about something else; he likes being unpredictable like that.'_

Kurama smiled and waved off the concerned look of Kuwabara. The large man could always sense when he talked to his other half, and he was taking pride in the way that his friends were growing in their powers.

Yusuke stood up from his seated position on the ground and dusted off the seat of his pants: "I want to meet her."

Hiei jumped down from his perch and contemplated their leader before nodding his head and turning to the redheads. "I too would like to see this 'miko'."

Kuwabara shrugged his shoulders at Kurama, "I don't see why not," he glanced at Yusuke before continuing, "but we have to talk to Koenma first."

Kurama sighed. The demigod was being infantile at best and a pain in the ass at worst. He had already taken a dislike to the two Higurashis and Kurama could only hope that he'd let the whole team go to meet them, let alone that he'd let Kuwabara and him see the two again.

Highly unlikely at this point.

Still he waited with the others for Botan to open them a portal, and he walked with them into the cluttered expanse of their boss' office.

.x.

Yusuke scowled at his boss, the stupid toddler was pacing around his room throwing up a mess of papers in search of something. Without looking up he started to address the two he had appointed the Higurashi case. "Good I found something startling and you need to now that her power…" His voice cut off as he looked up to spot the whole team.

His wary gaze traversed the four of them and he cleared his throat before looking to the redheads. Yusuke watched Kurama urge him to continue his previous line of thought. Koenma glowered at his predicament and Yusuke smirked.

"…it doesn't have a set element."

Hiei froze in his normal shiftless movements, the stunned expression on his face giving Yusuke the knowledge that this_ was_ unorthodox.

He glanced in curiosity at the equally confused Kuwabara before turning his head to Kurama for an explanation. He blinked before he replied his unspoken inquiry: "Everyone has a base element that lends to their powers. I am a soul kitsune but I specialize in the souls of plants and their manipulation. Hiei is a hybrid but his more dominant side is of fire. You and Kuwabara have powers based on your personalities: Kuwabras' honor-code reminiscent of the days of swords and knights, and yours attracted to the more street-fight brawl style."

Yusuke looked confused before he turned to Koenma. "So she doesn't have an element? Doesn't that mean that she just hasn't used her power to fine-tune it to her?"

Koenma's mouth dropped open in shock and Yusuke watched in disgust as his pacifier rolled out onto the papers at his desk. Koenma shok himself roughly out f his stupor and glanced at him. "That has got to be the smartest thing I've ever heard you say." Both ningens bristled at his comment before he shook his head more gently this time. "But no, her magic is controlled. She has been using it just hasn't taken on any element."

Kruama looked at Hiei before glancing at the two ningens. Yusuke caught the look, sending one of his own back: confusion and curiosity.

Koenma grabbed their attention again before they could elaborate amongst themselves. "What exactly are you two doing anyway?"

Hiei stepped out of the shadows he had encased himself in. "We wish to visit the miko."

Yusuke laughed as Koenma face-faulted.

"Hell no!"

So he stopped laughing. "Shame on you toddler. You of all should know that the denizens of hell won't take kindly to such curses." He playfully retorted.

Keonma growled, rather impressive for a toddler. Kuwabara interrupted, sending a hidden wink the team's way as he picked up the trail. "Kagome is probably going to go into a meditative state at the same time as she hit her power fluxes in the hospice."

Koenma stopped to think.

"Not that it would make a difference. Your bogus missions are just to spite the team- not anything really important."

Koenma sputtered pout his indignation. "They are not bogus!" A pause. "They are not unimportant!" He roared.

Kurama took up his piece. "He didn't mean it that way Koenma, just saying that the more important missions you usually delegate to your fathers workers."

Koenma glared heatedly at Kurama before opening his mouth to argue.

Hiei's smooth voice cut in. "I wonder if you father likes knowing that his son is incompetent in such matters."

Koenma sputtered, subdued this time as his anger slowly left him.

"Besides I thought you wanted to have her observed."

"Yes I did." The resigned tone made Yusuke get a gleam in his eyes. _'Jackpot.'_

"Well then, we'll be on our way." Yusuke grinned as he turned to leave through a portal a confused Botan had called up.

Kurama bowed slightly, mockingly, at the demigod and spoke: "We'll visit the family tomorrow sir. No fear."

As the portal closed and the team entered Yusuke's new apartment they could hear Koenma's curses and mutterings.

Yusuke grinned at the last strain: "…I can't believe I just did that?"

He laughed and Kurama and Kuwabara smirked at him as they settled into the furniture that dotted the living room. Hiei settled onto the windowsill, glancing proudly at the team from the corner of his eyes.

"This is going to be fun."

'_And what a way to start it off.' _Yusuke grinned, he loved it when they could pull together to pull a fast one on Koenma.

"I can't wait to see what has you two all riled up, and Koenma having fits like that." Kurama grinned at him.

"It's actually rather fun hanging around them," he shrugged, "who knows. Maybe the brother will take a better liking to you than he did me."

Yusuke stopped in his tracks. "He doesn't like you." Simple really. But Yusuke was hard put to keep his chuckles in, and as a result they broke through a moment later as a loud rowdy laugh.

Kuwabara smiled wryly and shook his head at the two.

Yusuke calmed down and got himself under control, almost losing it again when he looked at Kurama's self-depreciating face. "This _is _going to be fun!"

Yusuke chuckled to himself as they settled in further in comfort. He couldn't wait to meet this family. From what Kuwabara had told him, the boy was one hell of a spitfire. And the female gave Kurama a run for his money.

Oh yes, this was going to be a lot of fun. Koenma would rue the day he put them on this case.

Time to raise some hell.


	5. Home

SORRY for all grammar and spelling mistakes! I'm having a little trouble writing this and actually doing my schoolwork…heheh I kind of got a baaaad grade…oops? Sorry If it feels kind of rushed and not…yeah.

.x.X.x.

_Yusuke calmed down and got himself under control, almost losing it again when he looked at Kurama's self-depreciating face. "This is going to be fun!"_

_Yusuke chuckled to himself as they settled in further in comfort. He couldn't wait to meet this family. From what Kuwabara had told him, the boy was one hell of a spitfire._

_Oh yes, this was going to be a lot of fun. Koenma would rue the day he put them on this case._

_Time to raise some hell._

.x.

Souta laughed quietly as he ran down the stairs to greet his sister. He could smell breakfast, _her_ breakfast, and she always made sure to make a little extra for him. God he loved her.

His steps slowed and a frown creased the usually smooth planes of his face as he entered the downstairs hall. He could feel the oppressive aura- the awkward tenseness of two strangers facing each other.

He peeked around the corner to spot Kagome and he almost smiled. His mother's boyfriend was also in the kitchen, seated at the table with their mother. Mother was happily talking to her boyfriend –_ the_ Yukio – as both he and Kagome glanced warily at each other.

Souta sighed. Yukio wasn't the perfect man, but Mother was lonely, and she needed a man around the house, to remind her that she was a woman and desirable. _'Go figure that the guy she lands is the herald of Kagome coming home.'_

The relations going on in the kitchen were strained at best, and Souta couldn't really blame anyone for it. Mother had been lonely and the shrine had needed a male to support her like their father used to. Grandpa was easily won over with tales and legends…all bound up in an ancient scroll.

Souta was uneasy around the man. To him he represented the family's acceptance of Father's death and Kagome's coma. It was a blatant statement of moving on, creating another family where there was no Father- and there was _no_ sister.

And even if Souta never really knew his father…_'I will never move away from my sister.'_

Souta entered the room and cheerily greeted those assembled. Ignoring the tension, as he was slowly easing it away anyway, he kissed his sister on the cheek and grabbed the pate out of her hands before sitting down.

Kagome laughed at him ruffling his hair fondly and calling him 'Squirt'. It wasn't his fault that he still had to stand on his tiptoes to kiss his sister good morning.

Yukio gave him an unreadable expression before turning to their mother briefly and resuming his breakfast.

Kagome was laughing and preparing her miso and tofu as she sat down; she had this odd talent for multitasking when it came to food. Souta watched her with a grin and he could almost see his mother slip a smile out at her daughter before Yukio cleared his throat.

Souta had just been wiping his mouth and preparing to leave the table. "What do you have to say?"

Souta and Kagome looked at each other in confusion before turning quizzical faces to the imposing man. "Pardon me?"

Yukio raised an eyebrow and looked towards their mother amusedly. "Thank your mother and Kagome."

Kagome blushed heatedly with her anger. Souta could always tell, if she was angry the blush went around her neck before making its way up to her cheeks, and if she was embarrassed it started out as a little flush on her cheekbones before extending to her temples. "I need no thanks, as I know he is grateful." She gave Yukio an odd glance. "I don't believe we are used to each other yet Yukio-san. As the time comes, you'll understand that my brother and I appreciate each other very much, so much that we don't need the petty words people insist on using."

Souta was stock-still staring at his sister in shock and wonder. If she could always talk that eloquently then he'd be sure to listen forever! Her words worked their way into his brain and he suddenly realized what she had said. He paled and glanced at the adults, Yukio looked pole-axed and mother looked suitably stunned.

Kagome continued. "I don't feel as you have the right to judge us as you barely know us, and I will not let you reprimand my brother with such little information. My brother is thankful and he excused himself. I am thankful to my mother for providing for us as well as my brother is grateful." She looked straight into Yukio's stunned face. "You, on the other hand, are not providing for us right now, and have no right to judge my family…"

Mother made a choking sound and Kagome stopped her tirade. She looked oddly ashamed as she lowered her head and excused herself before making her way up the stairs and presumably to her room.

Souta cleared his throat self-consciously. "Thanks mother, if you'll excuse me." He put his dishes in the sink as he was leaving his mothers soft voice rose up from her seat.

"Would you stay in your room, for a while, Hun?"

Souta nodded his head resignedly and trudged wearily up to his room. He passed his sister's room only pausing shortly in debate before he heard the adult's voices making their way into the living room and his Mother walking up the old stairs.

Sadly he hung his head and made his way into his room. _'I keep on saying she needs something familiar, but what is familiar?'_ He closed the door part-way, with any luck he would be able to tell when his mom left so he could see his sister. _'She comes home to an older family; everyone has changed and aged…so has she.'_ He heard his mother walk to his sister's room and her bedroom door close. '_I want her to be somewhere familiar- so she can recover - but even her own form is unfamiliar and strange to her._' Souta sighed and picked up the kitten emerging from under his western bed. _'She is a stranger to herself and this family, Mother and Grandpa never visited her, and they are strangers as well.'_ The kitten purred under his working fingers, curling up into his arms much like he would do in his sister's. _'They just got settled in to a life without her and now she's back- a stranger to them. Where will she be familiar? Did I do the wrong thing? I can't have! She loved sitting out in the garden or near her window, telling us stories and listening to us talk after the sun set.' _

His thoughts drifted away from him, to times when the family was laughing and smiling. When his sister would smile and life would dance in her eyes. He almost had interwoven the two states in his mind; a happy smiling full family with the brimming emotions of the old and comforting presence of the other- then he heard his mother walk down the creaking stairs.

A muffled noise of discomfort or sadness reached his ears, and guilt started to wind its way into his soul. It worked its way through his mind and thoughts before slamming into his heart.

So he put Bouyo down, quietly padded over to the door, and checked to see if his mother had truly gone downstairs. She had, and he sighed in melancholy before making his way to his sister's door.

Walking in he didn't find his sister crying, instead he found her meditating on the floor; any previous evidence of her tears had drifted away to rest upon memories, but he could still see the moisture clinging to her lashes. _'Stranger to her own body….'_

"Onee-chan?" Souta asked tentatively as he gradually opened the door wider. Her head turned to look straight at him and a smile blossomed on her face. He couldn't take it.

He ran the rest of the way in, throwing himself onto her folded legs and wrapping his arms around her neck. "I'm sorry!" He sobbed into her shoulder. "I wanted you back so much that I ignored the fact that no one knew each other anymore! You just walked right back in to a stranger's house. I'm sorry! I tried to keep it the same but it didn't work! I-"

Her finger pressed against his lips. Absently he noticed that her fingers smelled like coconuts and wondered where the scent came from. She smiled at him, brushing his hair out of his face at the same time she soothed the guilt from his soul.

"Otouto no baka. As long as you are happy that I'm here, I would spend the rest of my days walking as a stranger."

Souta was gradually starting to feel the slack muscles of his face move, getting over his shock. He could see the gentle smile at her lips, and the dancing love in her eyes. _'Yes. This was my sister. Always thinking about another's comfort before own…. I love you for that, as much as I know you'll hurt yourself with it.'_

"Onee-chan…do you want to be back?"

"Silly, you are here, and my adventure isn't over now that I'm here. I have two things I'll never let go of: my brother and my love. Besides," she shifted into a more comfortable position leaning against her bed, "I have too many good stories to tell them to just anyone."

Souta grinned, settling his tense form onto his sister's and listening to her heart beat._ 'Stories from my sister, I can live with that. If it's what makes her feel like she belongs.'_

So he listened to her voice start out in a whisper, gradually coloring with emotion and suspense and joy. He relaxed against her mothering form and took refuge from the storms inside his mind. For once, he wasn't the genius Higurashi who knew the answer to every question, he wasn't the small boy who was easily picked on or shunned, he was _her_ brother- and that made up for it all.

As she wasn't the odd teenage priestess of the Higurashi shrine and she wasn't the stranger in her dreams or in her house, she was his sister- and he wouldn't let her forget it.

So he listened, like he always would. "…he was a fox-child as far as the miko could tell. His feet were paws, and his ears were pointed, and a bushy cream tail waved back and forth in his irritation. Eyes of jade green would peer out from under his auburn bangs in a good sulk and he pouted at his capturer before going on…"

.x.

Outside the cockeyed door an old hunched man listened. His silvered ponytail slid across the cotton of his haori as he turned his head to look down the stairs to where he knew his daughter was talking with Yukio. Faintly he could hear their conversation, and it blended with the story that slithered out of his granddaughter's room.

He sighed. He hadn't known what to say to his granddaughter, she had walked in, and she had felt different, she had been different. Higurashi-san paused as he listened more intently to his granddaughter; she always could weave the best of stories.

But he couldn't shake of this feeling.

Sure, people thought he was the old crazy man of the Sunset shrine who looked up illnesses to pass his time away…but he knew. And he knew the old mikos and houshis knew how to counter _any_ illness they encountered; they could protect the spirituality of their assigned villages and drive away the dangerous demons of the wild. So he saved his powers, accumulating them as time passed and they grew with his wisdom.

He felt it coming.

He scowled. Kagome always wove tales of faraway places and foreign cultures. If she always did this, without reading his scrolls of these alien beings, how would she know so many facts about the youkai?

He shook his head lightly as he made his way into his cluttered and dusty study taking a quick second to glance around in pride at his collections before making his way to one particular scroll.

He knew exactly which one it was- A fairly old scroll, of purely Japanese origin. It would be slightly dusted with motes, and the paper would crinkle with age and unroll with care. He could practically smell it…

The elder Higurashi started, and grinned sheepishly into the empty room and dust. He could smell it because he _was_ holding it. Smiling self-depreciatively at his absent wits, he unrolled one of his treasures and blew away the gathered dust. _'Ah, yes. Ancient and barely known.' _He grinned and let his mind drift away into training days and ancient procedures, his lovely wife and …well, let's not go there. _'This scroll has a legend…. A powerful being, the ultimate meditation! I do believe that Kagome has heralded…'_

The incoherent mumblings of a hunched figure drifted into the hall of the house, joining the murmuring cacophony of voices from its other occupants.

The house of Higurashi was once again united.

.x.

The house settled in for the night, making sure the inhabitants were safely where they should be. Or in the case of a certain pair of siblings- safely where they felt safe – in each others presence. The floorboards creaked and the wind whispered its lullaby with the curtains and wind chimes. Night had come to the serene shrine, and the sunset – the shrines namesake – winked at the establishment before gathering her colorful skirts and dancing away from the moon.

No one would disturb the grounds on this night, and all nature would know this. Higurashi was once again able to protect its charges, but _tonight_…tonight they needed the time to rest and accept the changes that were being wrought upon them.

So the goshinboku swayed with the lullaby and the grasses danced with the dreams. The clear patch of new grass sprouting where once stood the proud monument to the demon-slaying ancestry of the Higurashi house giggled and squirmed in its excitement, _prophecies_.

.x.

Kurama greeted the morning with a yawn and a bleary blink, silently wondering what had possessed him to arrange his bed to face the morning sun. Sighing he ran his fingers through his hair, and almost snarled when he encountered a fairly tedious knot.

Youko almost snickered in the back of his awareness, and smoothed out the flares from their souls._ 'Calm down red, today we meet her family.'_

Kurama shook his head and sent feelings of _his_ frustration and unease through the bond they shared. They both wanted to solve the little puzzle they had been presented with, but Kurama was the more human counterpart of Youko, and they had stayed up long into the night puzzling over the few pieces they had. It made for one very tired redheaded fox.

So he slipped out of his warm bed onto the cool floor and shivered with the onslaught to his senses. He hated cold floors.

He went about his daily morning rituals, and eventually found his way to the kitchen and his tea. Tea…he loved tea- so nice and warm and enveloping. Tea was his pick-me-up, and if he didn't have it he was sure he'd snap at people all day.

_Idiots…_

Kurama groggily raised his head at Youko's whisper and smiled softly. Blowing across the surface of his tea he took his first sip- the best one there was with the initial blast of flavor on your tongue and warmth down your throat - and sighed into the still morning air.

'_What are you on about now Youko?'_

'_The humans think we are infallible in our emotions. They are idiots.'_

'_Why are you in a bad mood this morning?'_ Youko didn't need to sleep.

Youko huffed and slowly cracked his neck. _'I may not need sleep as you do but I was thinking while you rested kit. That takes a lot of energy.' _Kurama smiled at the fox, gathering his keys and wallet to head out the door.

He breathed in deeply as they passed the park, briefly feeling sorrow over the amount of pollution that had destroyed the once fresh air of nature. Coughing a bit behind a raised hand he picked up his pace to meet the rest of his team mates at Yusuke's house. It would be enjoyable to see their reactions to the energetic and perplexing family.

He lifted his head and raised his hand in silent affirmation of his friend's calls and walked sedately up to them. There was a general silence as they basked in the familiarity of each other's presence before Yusuke nodded his head in the general direction of the Higurashi shrine and they walked calmly in the silent formation that they had developed through years of team work. Watch everyone's backs.

Youko smirked from his viewing place and absently caressed the souls in the one body they shared. _'We make one hell of a team…'_

.x.

Souta watched his sister, as he was prone to do and had been doing for the last five years. But now she was _resting_. It made a world of a difference in her body-language. His sister was at home here, he could tell even as he carried his doubts and insecurities.

The strain of pain was not present around her mouth, and her eyes, what he had imagined to be dull with the melancholy from isolation in the hospital, were relaxed and bright with joy. Her lips were smiling in her sleep, and he could see the gentle curve of her eyes that told him she was truly happy.

Not like the lax expression she had usually wore at the hospital; this was a very refreshing change. Souta smiled as his sister pulled him closer to her form in her sleep. _'Scratch that, this is wonderful.'_ He snuggled deeper into her embrace and sighed as he closed his eyes.

He could stay there until she awoke.

.x.

A concerned mother opened her daughter's door to ask about the whereabouts of her son, she hadn't seen him since dinnertime. The door slid open noiselessly, and she stepped onto the soft carpeting of her daughter's room to turn and glance at her bed.

She paused.

There was her little angel…angels. Kagome was back now, she had to get used to another change in the house. It had been so hard to get used to the empty silence that had surrounded the home when she had been injured, and then they had taken her to the actual Reikai hospital she had felt the emptiness oppress her soul.

Kagome had always been a rather quiet girl, so the silence shouldn't have affected her, but there was something about the_ quality_ of the silence. She had been gone for so long, and she had needed to move on. To lose a child was one thing, but to keep hoping, and hoping, and hoping….

She would have broken down.

But now she watched them.

It was so - weird - watching them. They acted like she had never left, but she had left. She had left, and now everything was different.

But theyboth looked socomfortable together. Both were facing the wall near her bed, and Souta was curled between it and his sister. Kagome was wrapped loosely around her little brother, holding him as he slept and soothing him as he dreamed.

She sighed as she remembered the night. She hadn't heard her son call out from the usual nightmares that plagued his sleep, and she hadn't had to listen in shame as he wept himself back into his slumber. He wouldn't accept her comfort anymore, saying that his nightmare would be reality until his sister returned.

Ms. Higurashi sighed heavily as she turned her head. Her kids had always had a bond; it had been pretty scary at first. Like when Souta had been aroundfour, he had wandered around into the old shrine grounds, the one were the good miko Kikyou had her ashes buried years ago in the sengoku jidai. That area of the old shrine was decrepit and overgrown with plants and wild trees…

_A then Mrs. Higurashi called out to her son, screaming his name over and over and over. He wasn't answering and panic was slowly gripping her heart and seizing her rational thought._

_Her husband was trying to sooth her, cooing soft words. They didn't help. His tone was frantic as her actions were, belying his outward calm and exposing his inner turmoil._

_A soft call of 'mommy' caused her to look at her eldest, the young baby girl that always was quiet, never crying never throwing a tantrum and never wailing. She had her big blue-brown eyes looking up at her parents in shock and fear, and tears were trailing down her cheeks. _

'_Oh hunny,' she heard her husband say as he embraced their child._

'_Mommy, where's Souta?' Kagome asked it shakily. Truly she wondered where her brother could go on the grounds her father knew like the back of his hands._

'_He's okay…'_

'_No he's not!' Kagome screamed and started wailing into the night air. Her fists beat her father's torso as she wailed incoherencies and her brother's name._

_Their nerves had already been worn down, and now watching their daughter howl about with her son still missing, Higurashi snapped. She had a rough day and it was already night, when the wolves and wild animals of their lands would come out and hunt. So she snapped and yelled at her daughter._

_Her daughter; the peaceful, tractable, usually sweet and gentle Kagome, looked at her. She stopped wailing. She stood alone, apart from her parents who were holding each other now that the eerie calm settled around them, and looked straight up into their faces._

'_Just go to your room honey, Souta will be fine he's probably just playing hide and seek with Bouyo again. You know how he is.' Her husband soothed the distraught child._

_She continued to look up at her parents, and then she turned her body to leave. It was quiet around the house, no small animals were out or up yet and the usual sounds of the houses sleeping inhabitants was nonexistent._

_So the padding of her child's feet echoed into the night, as she did exactly what her mother had told her to do. She was a very tractable child after all. _

_**Shut up**, be quiet…**.GO to your room**, obey…._

_It was in the early hours of the next day that the older Higurashis finally went to bed, and it was late in the morn of that day that they woke up to find their daughter gone._

_They searched frantically, even calling upon the neighbors to help. They didn't find them. _

_When they returned to the house, they saw them. Little Kagome was holding her brother to her as she leaned against the sacred tree. With a start Higurashi-san realized that they had locked the door when they began their search never believing that the kids would find their own way._

_She had felt an odd detachment, as if this wasn't really happening…_

_Kagome looked up at the approaching adults, 'I told you he wasn't okay.' Her gaze softened as she faced her brother's closed eyes and stroked the hair off his forehead. 'He was scared.'_

Many times after that she had witnessed the strange ability her children had for finding each other and her daughter's peculiar knack for knowing exactly when her brother needed her.

It was uncanny, and Souta had missed his sister greatly when she had left for those years, it had hit them all hard. But they had given up and moved on, he had not. Higurashi-san sighed, maybe they should have believed him,he wasthe one that shared the bond and it was most likely that he felt her life as strong as it should be.

She shook her head and left the room, quietly closing the door behind her to walk down the hall and start the breakfast.

.x.

Souta listened to his mother leave and grinned as she did so. He hadn't always been able to fool her into believing he was asleep, and if she had found him awake he would have had to move back to his room or help with a chore.

He turned himself to face his sister and watched her face. Her breathing was even, her muscles were relaxed _and_ she was home.

He watched her for a few minutes with what he knew to be a stupid grin on his face before he sighed happily.

"You could say good morning." Her soft voice caused him to yelp.

"You're awake!"

Her eyes still closed she laughed_ her_ laugh and hugged him. They opened to reveal the sleepy affection that would clear into the intelligent fondness she would reveal everyday, now that she was home. "Of course I am, or I wouldn't be talking to you."

Souta laughed as he came out of his stupor and hugged her in return.

Life was looking good.


	6. Blurred Line

To AnimeMoonlightGoddess: I can suggest some good stories of that pairing and I'm sorry for disappointing you with my one-shot…sigh so inadequate. And to all my other reviewers I thank you, as without you I would have forgotten that people actually read my stories and enjoy them.

.x.

Ms. Higurashi turned at the sound of her children's laughter, missing it and rejoicing in it. Just as she was about to mount the stairs and greet their day, she heard her fathers voice ring out across the shrine. In curiosity she moved to the front door, closer to her than the window, and opened it to greet the sight of four teenagers – even if one was rather short – and her father near the top of the shrine steps.

She walked out to them, wiping her hands on her apron and smiling in amusement until she heard what her father was saying. "I won't have you disturbing this house at such and early hour!" He waved an admonishing finger at their faces. "If you wanted to greet my granddaughter in any respectable way you would wait until the sky had become a true blue."

Ms. Higurashi smiled and approached the group, wondering what had truthfully set her father off. She stood by his side and he leaned up to whisper, "Demons," in a hiss. Her eyes widened and narrowed before settling into the masking genial expression she always wore.

"I welcome you to the Sunset shrine." She glanced curiously at the odd group; she could tell two of them were rebels, having lots of practice picking that type out of a crowd during the festivals so she knew who to watch.

The other two didn't fit, one was visibly anti-social, and the other held the air and grace of a scholar…or a ballerina. Ms. Higurashi held back a snicker as she thought this. She knew he wasn't, as her daughter had been one before, and she could tell that his grace was from a totally different form of exercise. But the image of him in a pink tutu gracefully prancing around a room of mirrors was too much, especially with his long red hair.

She snickered.

Her father turned to her with a pole-axed expression and shook his head before turning back to the teenagers and clearing his throat. She sobered herself up and smiled more openly this time. "Forgive us; we are not used to guests so early in the morn." That was a lie, but they certainly wouldn't know that. It was a weekend, and the die-hard religious only came to the shrine early during the weekdays- when they felt they needed guidance to make it through their day.

The smaller redhead bowed acceptingly and she almost snickered as his hair shifted across his back and drew her attention again. "Forgive us, we forgot the time. Our two friends," he gestured to the antisocial and smaller rebel, "were anxious to meet your daughter, we had met her previous in the Reikai hospital."

Ms. Higurashi cast a questioning glance at her father who shrugged and turned back to his sweeping, all the while glaring at the boys and muttering 'demons' and 'not right' under his breath.

.x.

Kuwabara shifted uneasily as he watched the old mans aura. He felt the shivers course down his spin when he sent a particularly nasty glare at their demon companions, and Kuwabara just knew that he knew. It was hard to tell at first, but after a while of him blocking their way onto the shrine and paying particular attention to the more demonic of the spirit detectives, Kuwabara could tell he knew.

He sighed.

The elder slowly made his sweeping arcs further away from their group, and pretty soon Kuwabara could barely make out his angry sweeps and only faintly his muttered words. He turned to his friends and caught the eyes of the fire demon. There was something there, not normally present in the fire demons eyes so as Kuwabara could catch it.

He was curious.

Kuwabara shook his head and followed his friends after the lady, entering the humble household and comfy atmosphere of a family's house. The first thing he noticed was the aroma of breakfast being made, and his nose almost bid him follow, but then the laughter of a child and a woman greeted him from the upper-level of the house- Kagome and Souta.

He watched Hiei listen intently to the noises in the house before he slowly started to relax, a sure sign that there was nothing obviously harmful to them at the moment. Ms. Higurashi showed them to the living room, telling them to make themselves comfortable before she went into the kitchen.

The laughter drifted down the stairs again, and Kuwabara watched. Yusuke's whole head turned in curiosity, Hiei's eyes shifted ever so subtly, and Kurama smiled as he turned to face the stairs. The two siblings came in view at the bottom step, Kagome's face losing its smiled as she spotted them. The calculating look appeared in her eyes, and Kuwabara wondered if she ever relaxed around 'strangers'.

Souta chirped out a good morning to his mother before he turned to face them along with his sister. "You guys are back already?" He asked. Kuwabara almost grinned when he noticed Souta was avoiding looking at Kurama. Kurama looked suitably put out, and Yusuke was almost smirking as he watched the boy.

Kuwabara nodded. "My good friends wanted to meet you two." Kagome shifted her weight as she noticed his words; 'two'. "This is Yusuke, and the shorter one is Hiei. Both are demons, or something of the like." The boy's eyes widened as he glanced at them, and he noticed Kurama quickly shift his head to the female.

"You're the kid that doesn't like Kurama?" Yusuke bluntly asked.

Souta grinned sheepishly as he started stammering out his reply; Kuwabara watched him, he was polite to the point of it becoming painful, and him stammering out was rather cute. He grinned.

Kagome smiled at her brother, taking a moment to glance at the two newcomers before she covered his mouth. "My brother is very wary and very protective of me, Yusuke, it does not mean that he dislikes Kurama-san."

Kuwabara smiled and gave the kid a hearty pat on the back as he greeted him more personally. He genuinely liked the kid, having noticed the way he adored his older sister. It kind of reminded him of the way he would act so tough to protect his sister but really hide behind her when the going went too rough.

Kurama turned his back on the group and Kuwabara could just make out the amusement lacing through his aura as he watched them covertly out of the corner of his eyes. _'That fox gets too much amusement out of this…he's just a kid.'_

Kuwabara shook his head and started asking about the cat he'd been told about.

Souta grinned up at him unabashedly and ran up the stairs they had come down earlier. Kagome gave him an odd look, and he again had that fleeting rush of something whispering along his senses before soothing and flowing back to the woman. He grinned unsurely at her and watched an ancient knowledge light her eyes before she gave him a small smile- it looked more mischievous than he needed.

He shook his head and the smile gentled before she turned to the kitchen. "I believe my mother is making some food, are you guys hungry?" She didn't wait for a reply as she walked through the archway into the kitchen, only pausing briefly to glance up the stairs when the running footsteps of her brother could be heard coming down.

Kuwabara grinned as the young boy held up the kitten proudly, taking note of how well the cat's hair shone and the intelligent light to its eyes. He nodded his head. If a boy his age took such good care of a kitten without neglecting it then he was a good person. No one decent could resist a kitten, but it took someone really great to actually care for it to the extent he could see Souta did.

He grinned wider and took the kitten- Buyo junior. The cat purred happily and he watched Souta start babbling about how the firemen had given to it to him as a gift around two years ago. He had gone to thank them for getting them out, and they had surprised him with help from his mother. Kuwabara thought it rather sweet really.

'_Such a lively kid. Heh.'_

The kitchen was warm and lively and he watched as Kagome hugged her mother slightly from behind and whispered something in her ear before playfully shoving her brother into a chair and sitting beside him. Her mother turned around with a tray of tea, and she set it on the table before she lifted the kettle and offered it to them.

Kuwabara accepted the tea with thanks and sipped it slowly as he watched the siblings. He couldn't help it. They interacted like partners in a dance; a kind look here, strong helping hand there, guiding smile there, and a casual sustaining touch there.

The comfortable silence was their music and he watched in wonder at the ease with which they related to each other. "They told me that you met them in the hospital." Their mother threw in a questioning look and Kuwabara straightened under her mothering gaze. She seemed protective.

Kagome cleared her throat softly; "Yes, Kurama and Kuwabara-kun greeted me at the hospital, their boss Enma-san wanted to question me as to the conditions of my coma."

Kuwabara almost snickered. She was rather good at twisting her words around. Like her mother didn't need to know that she was being held suspect for magic use and was suspected of contacting a power source previously unknown. If there was one thing Koenma hated it was the power he knew nothing about.

Higurashi-san's face cleared and she nodded her head, accepting the truth Kurama had given when they first arrived. Souta glanced curiously at his sister, and Kuwabara just caught the tiny wink she sent his way before his face lit up with a grin and he went back to his tea.

He glanced to his friends, checking to see if they caught the silent exchange between the siblings as well; they hadn't. Kurama was watching the mother move around the kitchen as she made her way out of the room, probably calculating her feelings about her just returned daughter, and Hiei was looking out the window to the tree bearing the sacred paper chain of the shrine. Yusuke was playing with the cat, Kuwabara grinned, he could tell by the way he was smiling slightly and his foot was shifting under the table. Kuwabara grinned even more.

Yusuke looked up and caught his look, he scowled. He stilled and straightened his back, taking a sip of the sweet tea. Kuwabara just grinned more. Yusuke would never admit to having a soft spot for anything furry and wide-eyed.

He blamed Puu.

.x.

Yusuke looked up at Kuwabara threateningly before snarling silently and directing his gaze to the family. He caught the girl casting him a curios glance, and he was startled to see her eyes flash with humor and not distaste when she glanced over at the reason for his dark expression.

His gaze turned curious as he watched her, unconsciously mirroring her previous gaze. They had been right, for someone whose muscles had been in a state of apathy for over three years she moved around like she had never left the waking world. And her hands-

Yusuke shivered.

Her mother had made her way outside to greet their grandfather, and he watched in a detached manner as they moved out of the detectives hearing range, and theirs. He turned to the siblings with a hungry expression and a manic grin. "So, how did you tick Koenma off so well?" He leaned onto his fingers as he laced them under his chin.

Souta laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head, hair flying everywhere as he closed his eyes. His sister half-scowled half-smirked, taking away his hand and smoothing out his hair for him.

"Yusuke!" Kuwabara exclaimed, trying to bat the question away as he caught the gleam in the woman's eyes.

"I want you to call me Kagome, as I don't take you for someone who would stick to formalities." Yusuke smirked at her deduction while he leaned back into the seat of his chair to listen to her talk; she had a nice voice. Maybe it was because it hadn't been used for so many years, but it took on a soft quality he hadn't heard from anyone else. "I do believe that your boss started it."

Yusuke spluttered; unsure whether to laugh at the immature insinuation or her, or to defend his boss as he was expected. He settled for a quiet chuckle.

He could see the gleam easier now, and he was strongly reminded of the color of rough stones before they were cut to perfection for a lady's accessory. He kind of liked them when they were in the rough…

"That's your boss too?" The boys tone, although curious, was also disgusted and Yusuke found himself desiring to point out that he wasn't there by choice to redeem himself in the child's eyes.

"I'm kind of owed them a debt kid."

The kid nodded slowly and then the information sunk in. His eyes shot up to him and widened in wonder. Before his question was asked he turned to his sister. She shrugged benignly and smiled wryly at her brother- as if to say she wouldn't know, and that it was his question to ask. He turned to face him again: "What did they do to deserve that?"

Yusuke startled. It wasn't everyday that someone he just met implied that someone had to _deserve_ his aid. He took a moment to glance at his friends faces as they listened and wondered at the look he saw Kuwabara give him. It held an epiphany, a silent understanding he reached on the situation. _Gods he needed the help now. _Yusuke cleared his throat, "They kind of brought me back to life."

Souta sat back heavily, a rather disbelieving yet awed expression on his face. His face turned to confusion and he turned to his sister. "Would the gods be able to interfere like that?"

Yusuke looked up to watch the miko answer, and was rewarded with her looking straight at him as she formed her response. There was something in her expression… "If it suited their plans they would. He would have to have died unexpectedly, the gods hate not being in control of something like that." She looked own at her little brother with a smile. "Yusuke must have done something they didn't expect. It would have been something so unusual and supposedly out of character they hadn't made any fall back plans, then he would owe them a debt for all the trouble he put them through because of their stupidity." She let a sly glance reach up to him, "The deities are all like that you know, controlling little bastards."

Souta gasped at her words, the blatant disrespect causing his open mouth to stretch into a smile before his laugh rang out into the room. Yusuke himself was surprised; he hadn't really looked at it that way before. He snickered.

Souta was still letting out little chuckles as he watched him and Yusuke found himself warming up to the boy- this boy who looked up to his sister for the answer to anything- and the boy who could give him some answers.

Yusuke grinned like the Cheshire cat and had to bite his tongue lightly against his cheek to keep himself in check. It was true, which made it funny, but they were getting off track.

Kurama spoke up. "She put Koenma into a corner, and he was rather angry at her words and her brother's intervention."

Yusuke felt his eyebrows raise as his interest peaked. "You intervened with the toddler?"

He blushed before he sat up straighter and put on a very mature expression. "He was disrespecting my sister; _no one_ will be allowed to do that." His nostrils flared as he glared out into space and memory. Hiei looked at him oddly, and Yusuke watched as the boy held the gaze for a scant time before turning to look up to his sister.

Weird.

She smiled and looked up at their group, taking note of the way they sat he could tell by her curious gaze. "You came for something more."

Kurama glanced at him before he took up the thread of conversation. "Our boss is just as curious as we are, and we wanted to get to know someone who would possibly be working with us in the future."

She tilted her head, reminding him of a curious cat's posture even as her eyes reminded him of the large predators he had seen in those magazines Keiko had. Her brother stood up, taking his cup from the table and placing it in the kitchen sink with a rinse before sitting himself back down, much closer to his sister than before.

They turned to face their group as one, and Yusuke was startled at the emotion that invoked in him. It wasn't so much fear, oh no he knew what real fear was like; this was an unsteady nervousness, brought about by something you didn't understand but was invariably faced with anyway. _Screw demons…they'd fall after a minute under their gazes._

"My sister owes no debt." Souta's brow furrowed as he tried to think of a way they could make her work for them. "She is not obligated to help you." It was stated with a very threatening growl, and Yusuke might have been intimidated if it wasn't coming from such a small person.

Yusuke smirked at the young boy and was about to open his mouth and explain that they would only call upon for the favors when Kurama opened his mouth, or rather, Kurama cleared his throat before he ever so politely interrupted. "Actually, Kagome does owe Reikai something…" Yusuke sighed at his intellectual tone, to some it sounded smart and wise. Yusuke sometimes felt it got on his nerves, it always made him feel inferior. Yusuke sighed again in the short interval before he glanced up.

A power was rushing along his senses, gradually building and warning him that something was offending this power. His gaze turned to the boy; his face was darkening with his emotion, and he was glaring at the fox. He could see the emotions playing across the boys face as Kurama explained the debt owed to Reikai to pay for her coma. Yusuke wondered how Kurama got his shit when they really never talked to Koenma about it.

But the boy wasn't the source of the power, no; his head was drawn to Kagome. Her eyes were narrowed, and at intervals she glanced at her brother in worry. Kurama had stopped talking a moment before, but her brother was still staring at him as if he had said something sacrilegious on their sacred shrine.

Kagome's eyes snapped to them, and the fury in her gaze matched the power rising in the house. An old man came down the stairs, coming up behind Kagome and placing a hand upon her shoulder and her brother's. She calmed and stood up, her chair scraping against the floor with her abrupt action, and ringing through the silence heavy in the air.

Her gaze jerked towards the door and the reikai tantei stood as well, following her out into the yard just outside the door and near the sacred tree that stood proudly over her form. She turned to them, gaze softening upon their countenance before she drew herself up. "You should leave."

Kuwabara nodded, tilting his head in thanks for her hospitality before taking a step towards the stairs they would have to descend to leave her property. Hiei was already waiting at the top of the steps, watching them interact with their enigma.

Kurama turned reluctantly, and Yusuke knew that he was still curious but that they had overstepped a boundary these people held dear.

Don't mess with the family.

Yusuke sighed and stepped up to the plate, taking over a question he was sure they would all like answered. _'God this job was maturing me too much.'_ "Just answer me this." She nodded her head and waited for his question. "Why are you so powerful now? You were in a coma, now you are fully trained."

She gave him that odd little smile of hers with that strange gleam in her eyes, before she turned slightly to the tree to rest a palm upon its marred surface. "Yusuke, things need not have happened to be true." Her eyes closed and a dreamy smile graced her face as she turned it up to warm in the sun as it filtered through the trees branches. "Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and mist and ashes and forgot."

Yusuke nodded his head awkwardly, wondering how that could relate to her experience before he heard Kuwabara call out his name. He gave her a genial nod, wondering about what went on in the minds of this family while he walked over to his friends. _'I really don't…'_

Yusuke heard her whisper as he walked away. "And eventually everything is forgotten. Can you tell me the difference between shadow-truth and fact Yusuke?" It made him shiver.

He went to his friends turning his head slightly to watch her enter the house. He turned to his team, knowing that they too had heard her whisper, and that they too were wondering what she meant.

No time like the present to find out….

.x.

Quick lesson: Miss is before a woman is married, Mrs. (missis) is when they are in a marriage, and Ms (pronounced miz) is for those women who have no confirmed status (ie: are widowed/divorced or unknown, this is generally the catch all and the most polite way to address a woman, though I still like feeling young when people call me Miss).


	7. Relations

Kurama's head snapped up at the angry aura that flared and danced at the top of the stairs they had just started to descend. The younger brother stood there, his fists clenched at his sides and his dark scowl directed at their group. His aura was _visibly _flaring; the dark blue and pale green dancing like fueled flames.

"Don't come back." There was force behind the words, and any protests or yells were stopped short at the power behind them. "I don't care how much you need to pry, I don't care how much you think you need to know; _don't_ - _come _- _back_."

The boy's eyes were bright with an ethereal light and Youko paused in his contemplation to view the maelstrom he was gifted with. "This is _my_ sister!" The tears fell to his cheeks, his wet lashes darkening with his emotions. He took in a shaky breath and stubbornly jutted his chin out. "I don't know how…but your presence hurts her. Tell your Reikai boss-" He took a deep clear breath and closed his gently before he snapped his eyes open "-that he can back off and stay there."

Yusuke rose to protest, his mouth staying open but no sound coming out when the boy's gaze was directly on him. "My sister is _fine_. She is healthy and the doctors told her as much. The only reason you want to come again is to figure her powers out." He spat on the ground at their feet. "Disgusting. She's my family, not some lab rat."

Hiei's eyes flashed and his hand left the pommel of his sword. He backed off from the boy, silently giving him the argument.

Youko's mouth dropped open in shock.

'_Hiei?' _

Hiei's voice was calm and unhurried as he replied via their connection, and Kurama wondered at the abrupt change in emotion from his friend._ 'The boy is within his rights, we have no validation to interfere with this family.'_

Souta took in a shaky breath as his fists clenched tighter- the knuckles turning white in the face of his fury. His head was lowered and his unruly bangs covered eyes that Kurama knew were staring up at them in rage. "You are not welcome in this shrine." Whatever the young man had wanted to say was cut off by the arrival of a tall lanky man. He glanced over their group of friends before turning to the Higurashi.

"Is your mother in?" Souta scowled deeply and nodded. The man nodded as he walked past, but paused just as he reached the threshold of the Higurashi dwelling. "See to it that you behave, I'm sure your mother won't be pleased to hear you threatening shrine guests." The man walked in.

The dark scowl on Souta's face left no question as to what he thought of the man at this moment, and his face only darkened when he turned to look back at them. "You should probably leave and tell your boss that you shouldn't be coming back." His sister came out of the house, looking behind her at the silhouette of the man and a woman - most likely their mother – as they conversed before the door closed and blocked them from their view. She shook her head and smiled at them before turning to her brother and pulling him under her arms.

Kurama was struck by how powerful they looked, like ancient gods coming forth to judge the wicked. He shifted uneasily- for their whole group had somehow become the wicked.

Kagome had her hair bound in that trailing braid Souta seemed to favor, and the clothes she was wearing were whipping about in an unseen wind, the hard look in her eyes had a more curious edge to it, but Souta's eyes made up for all the openness in hers.

Despite his unimpressive size, and the fact that he actually gave off no power signals whatsoever, her little brother was glaring at them with all the force of a Kami's glower. The malice in those eyes was from one who was innocent of all taint, had no experience with the actual pains of living, but there was something there…

Kurama looked at Kagome to see her gazing at her brother, ignoring them and focusing on Souta with all the attention any kit would crave. Her arm was wrapped around his shoulder, and Kurama could almost see the energy they _shared_- although it was all the girls.

He glanced at Kuwabara to find his gaze respectfully turned down, and he felt the shock vibrate along the bond he shared with Youko that such a thug like man would demonstrate that amount of respect- to a modern day woman nonetheless. He shook his head to clear his vision, sending a feeling of gratitude along his bond to Youko when their vision enhanced to aid him.

He couldn't see the bond anymore.

But he did see her eyes.

The blue-brown of her gaze settled on each of them in turn, sizing them up and moving onto the next member of their team before shifting to her house and then her brother. The gaze hadn't been patronizing or malicious, instead, it had been the eyes of a warrior; one who was assessing the weaknesses and strengths of a possible ally…and those eyes had held a longing.

He watched how it clouded her vision with pain, and looked at Souta as he scowled at them and gripped his sister's hand tighter to his. HE to saw the pain and longing, and Kurama wondered how such a young child could easily tell it apart from all the other emotions that usually danced in her eyes.

'_I think it's that bond we keep on seeing. Heck, even Kuwabara sees it.'_ Youko shifted around on his feet, keeping his head at the odd angle he had to use to see from the position they were in. _'There's something about these two – about her - that we are missing.'_

Kurama nodded his head in agreement and watched the young man under his sister's arms. _'I don't think even he knows about it; he said he didn't understand why she grows sorrowed when she sees us.'_

Youko tilted his head and regarded the siblings before them, taking his time to watch the boy longer and look harder than he had before. Before…he had just been dealing with a young man that loved his sister and was devoted enough to watch over her during her comatose stay in the hospital- a young man who had no power. Now…Souta was proving to have a bond with his sister that seemed to overcome all he had even heard of before.

'_It's true he doesn't know the cause, but I am willing to bet anything that he will be able to pinpoint it soon enough._' Youko paced on spot, turning his head this way and that as if it could somehow aid the direction of his thoughts. _'If he can sense her emotions, so much so that he understands them before even **we** can see them,_ _then he'll be able to discover the cause of these feelings much faster.'_ Youko pouted in his mind, jealous of the boy's ability to discover something that was so crucial to their solving of the puzzle.

Kurama sighed and stepped back from the siblings, gesturing with a simple head movement for his friends to follow. They left quietly, feeling the gaze of the siblings at their backs even as they reached the end of their descent down the many stairs the shrine contained.

Their gazes were still felt as they turned the corner, and to Kurama's surprise their gazes were still felt as they continued walking down the street out of the shrine's sight. He glanced over his shoulder to check, and sure enough, Souta was standing on the street accounting for one of the stares Kurama felt at his back…but the other…

He strained his senses to detect it, and when he found it he stopped dead in his tracks. His companions stopped as well, looking at him with worry as he whipped around to face the actual shrine. "It's the shrine." He whispered to them.

Hiei walked up beside him, glancing up into his face before he too faced the shrines direction. Souta had left his post, but the powerful gaze on their group remained. Yusuke came forward, and Kuwabara joined them. "The watcher, the being watching us…it's the shrine."

Kuwabara looked down at him in confusion and Kurama shook his head at being inarticulate. "You're telling us that the _shrine_ is watching us?"

Kurama nodded weakly, not understanding it even as he tried to explain it to his comrades; it was just …there.

Hiei shifted uneasily beside him and kept his gaze on the shrine grounds. "Those grounds stretch for miles behind the main holy grounds, are you sure it is not just a being that was hidden from our perusal by the magic inherent in such a historically powerful ground?"

Kurama shook his head to clear it of the useless thoughts that were jumbled around- nothing was making sense to him. "That can't be right- even wit the powerful shrine barrier, a being that had the strength to overcome the barrier and watch _us_ outside its realm would register on Reikai scales."

He felt the confusion practically tangible off of his comrades, and he shook his head again as he turned to continue walking away from the Higure Shrine. They were quiet as they left, and Kurama could only wonder about what went on in that family when no one was around to catch the unorthodox happenings.

.x.

Kuwabara groaned and rubbed his hand down his face in an effort to pull himself into some semblance of alertness. He had been working at odd jobs all day and now his friends were by some coincidence all converging on the park. They had not talked since this morning at the Higure shrine, and Kuwabara knew that everyone was itching to piece together what little information they had recovered.

He sighed wit a yawn as he scratched his head- _'A very difficult thing to do let me tell you'_ – and he settled himself into a bench to watch the people walk o by, and to wait for his friends to arrive.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head back to rest his neck, and he took in a deep breath of the park air to settle his nerves and hopefully wake up. He could feel the families and couples passing him, their auras content and bright. And he felt the occasional late-worker rushing past with a flurry of cloth and leather and a frantic and pulsing aura.

_Whoever said that humans had weak auras was stupid._

Kuwabara could actually sometimes feel the brightness of a human's aura when he wasn't really paying attention. It changed with a thought or emotion, with the happenings in a life and struggle ad the aura of a human was anything but weak.

It just had an altogether different strength.

…this brought him around to the Higurashis. The young boy, Souta, had the average soul of any other human, if you took away the thin wrappings of his sister's soul and the brief flashes of empathy the boy could use with his sister, there was no extraordinary power. But the boy…his aura, his plain everyday human aura pulsed with life and emotion whenever he shifted his mood or thoughts.

The possible empathic powers there was astounding, but they only came to light when he was around his sister. Kuwabara had to wonder at this, even as he had to wonder at his sister's aura. It was so…strange.

He shifted on the bench to get more comfortable, and with a quick glance around the park he settled back to some serious thinking.

Kagome didn't have a set power or element, like Koenma had told them, Kuwabara could tell because her aura had no distinct feel to it. There was no down to earth feel like Kurama's earth, or no passionate and angry feel like Hiei's fire or the icy and foreboding feel of Hiei's ice. Not to mention that icy but refreshing feel of Yukina's ice. Her aura didn't fold to her form like the warriors aura of Yusuke, and it didn't impose a feel of snobbery and political power that engulfed Koenma's figure.

No her powers and aura wrapped around her like the ocean, and moved along her path like the wind, her spirit as stable like the earth and it engulfed like the flames. He didn't know what to classify it as, so he just shrugged to himself - rather awkwardly given his position – and continued on wit his train of thought.

Even though she had no set base for her power, her power was centered within her spirit. It never faltered on the path she set along her brothers soul, and it seemed to wrap around her form in the controlled manner he had seen the apprentices- En, Ryo, and Kai. But they had specific attacks, and the element of their souls had taken on the ethereal plane they used most of the time.

Kagome though…her soul seemed to call out to everything around her. He always felt the whispering of her spirit as it shifted between her thoughts, and the rush he felt as it allowed him to fell it was unlike any he had ever experienced. It refreshed and invigorated him, then it left him with this drowsy feeling of contentment that made him want to curl up and close his eyes much like he had seen Souta do- just not _in_ her lap.

Kuwabara laughed at the thought of what her brother would do if he actually did that. He could just picture his shocked and indignant expression before he turned to rage and bodily removed him from his sister.

He settled down again and let his thoughts drift to his training. He remembered talking with his sister late into the night, she was very spiritually aware and she could help him understand what he was seeing. She had helped him practice his telepathy and empathy, but she had never told him about things like Kagome seemed to experience.

Maybe….

Kuwabara opened his eyes and lifted his head to perhaps follow up on his thoughts and talk to his sister, but he was surprised to see all his friends around him quietly waiting for each to her to finish their thoughts.

Kurama smiled at him as he startled, and Yusuke smirked up into the sky as he never bothered to look up to watch him and his quirky movements. Hiei was silent and staring off into the park as he leaned against the tree in all his silent glory and Kuwabara had the fleeting irritation that although Hiei was short and stoic he still got his share on the dark and mysterious department.

He shook his head to clear it of the useless thoughts and saw their shortest member glance up to him out of the corners of his eyes with an amused smirk before he pushed himself of the tree and walked over to stand with their group. They were all near the bench now, and Kuwabara watched with some amusement as Yusuke eyed the bench with distaste. He had a very amusing experience with one a while back…well, amusing to Kuwabara anyway, not that Yusuke would think so.

He laughed as he pulled himself away from his distracting thoughts and joined his friends to find Yusuke sitting on the ground and Hiei leaning against the back of Kurama's seat on the bench beside him.

"So," Kurama stretched out his long legs in front of him, "does anyone want to be the first to contribute?" He gave them all a welcoming look- _'he has information, he just wants to see what we have so he can verify his, or add more to it.'_

Kuwabara nodded his head in deferral to the other two, and Hiei turned his head away once again to face the forest, the ball fell to Yusuke.

He sighed and cracked his knuckles, not in an intimidating gesture as Kuwabara knew but from sheer force of habit. "Her brother is the key."

Kuwabara nodded his head and looked to Hiei as he snorted and sneered slightly at them. Kurama noticed as well and turned a curious expression to him. "You have something to say Hiei?"

Hiei glared at them harder and sighed angrily as he turned to face them all. "We have no need to figure their family out, as we have no need to decipher her power. Reikai hasn't ordered us to, and even if they did we have no right to."

Kurama made a small sound of understanding. "You are just as curious as us. I think even if we have not been told to inspect the family and Kagome, we could use with an ally of her powers- though we know not what they are."

Hiei snorted, unable to argue with his observation, and he looked up to the sky with a snarl. "I do not like this."

Kuwabara nodded his head in agreement and Yusuke looked at him in surprise. "This is a family we have barged into. It's a _family_. The siblings share a bond and they understand each other and it feels awkward when we leave." Kuwabara shook his head slightly in amazement with a glazed look in his eyes. "While we are in their property we have such a feeling of being welcomed that we don't question it but when we leave…when we leave it hits us that it wasn't our place to be there."

Yusuke slowly shifted in his seated position, drawing all their attention and making them wait for his response. "I like it there." He shrugged at the confused looks he was getting. "I'm not going there to uncover her power or investigate the family; I'm going there because I like it there." He nodded his head firmly: "Simple as that."

Kurama chuckled: "As we enjoy it there- there can't creditable be a reason to stay away, and there is no harm in trying to figure out their power as we visit."

Hiei's face never shifted into the calm stoic expression that would tell that he somewhat agreed with the point, but he made no protest. Yusuke grinned in excitement and rubbed his hands together before he placed them behind his neck and leaned back into the grass.

Kuwabara found he was agreeing with this conclusion, even as he wanted to stay away put of respect for the family he couldn't bring himself to vow to keep himself away. Kurama spoke up from the silence. "I think we have gotten off topic." He leaned back in the bench to tilt his head up to the warming sun. "I for one found something very interesting about that family. Did any of you catch anything unusual about them?"

Yusuke shrugged casually in his awkward position and rubbed his nose with a finger. "They are a very tight family, like you guys said. The only thing awkward about it is that she has been gone for a while, and she still moves like…." He trailed off as he couldn't find a word to describe it, and Kuwabara found himself sympathizing with his long-time friend.

"She moves like an experienced warrior." Hiei's blunt statement drew their gazes to him, and Kuwabara smiled oddly as he recognized the gleam in those eyes. Hiei had found something he knew shouldn't be, and he would try to find out how it had come to be- no matter the obstacles.

Kuwabara supposed it had something to do with him actually being something that shouldn't be….

He shook his head and leaned back heavily. "Yeah she does. Almost creepily moves like a trained warrior, there's no sign of muscular dystrophy or any normal weakness." He almost smiled as he glimpsed their surprised expressions – _'It's always fun surprising them with his_ _'big words'_' - his hand mopped down his face again, this time to hide his grin. "And her family is eerily close. Even with that man."

Kurama latched onto that topic as if it had been what he was waiting for, and Kuwabara thought detachedly that Kurama should just start the conversation instead of waiting politely for an opening all the time.

"That's it." The simple statement got him confused countenances, so he elaborated. "Despite how close they are together that man seems to be…not so loved by the children of the house."

Hiei's gaze sharpened on his friend and Kuwabara watched the wheels turning in his gaze. "That man has no respect for the younger Higurashis, treats them like children…and I saw him greet their mother like he was courting her. If there was a man courting my mother that I didn't like, I sure wouldn't keep my peace like those two seemed to do."

Kuwabara wondered at the family's relationship again, but he dropped it with a sigh as he stretched and felt the aches and pains in his tired body. It had been a very tiring day…. "Look guys, we all have had a long day; we'll get together another time to delve. I just might need to talk to my sister too, and Genkai might have some information for me."

They seemed surprised at his admission, but they gradually accepted his truth and nodded in agreement as they all shifted into more alert positions and readied themselves to leave to their respective homes.

Amidst the calls of parting and general well-wishes of his friends- his comrades and allies – Kuwabara stuffed his hands in his pockets and set off for his house at a slow slouch. He had much to think about before he got home, and he was certain that if he was near the comfort of his bed he'd be too tempted to think deeper into the subject.

He sighed and took in a large breath of air to awaken his senses into some form of alertness as he let his mind wander into the puzzling feel of one aura and the confusing relations of one family.

It was shaping up to be a _very_ long walk home.

.x.X.x.

I will gradually go through all the chapters and edit them; this is not as important as actually getting my sort out there though. Sorry about my mistakes and note that they will be fixed…eventually.


	8. Irony

I FEEL LOVED! OMg! Muahahaha! People reviewed so kindly…and I'm pretty sure that glomping is fine if you are female (between males or hetero it's kind of questionable: I mean that in the nicest way possible I'm all for the right to be who you want to be in fact I meant it like people would look at me funny and they already call me enough names as it isAnd a male glomping anyone is considerably feminine; but if you are comfortable with your masculinity (or have emerged from he closet and declared your sexuality) go right ahead! X glomping is just a very enthusiastic hug…and I love hugs!) and I love it when people actually take the effort and time to review my stories and comment on things they would like to see or have changed or fixed…yeah, even if I don't change them. And super thanks go to _PriestessKikyoMarie_ for actually looking up words in a thesaurus (I think I'm partial to the word 'ducky') and showing that she enjoyed my story enough to take the time to describe it. WOOT! GO ME!

But I am sorry this update took so long, I had a little trouble getting on the computer, what with work in the morning and then my dad enlisting me to work on the vehicles…yeah. Sorry! But it is here! Badadadum.

.X X X.

Yusuke groaned in melancholy as he walked down the street, not even bothering to smirk at the amusing sight of people whispering and trying to discreetly avoid his path. It had been days since he had seen his team mates, and his nerves were wearing thin with the desire to go to the shrine and just- relax.

He groaned again at the thought of doing such, he had a very tiring few days, and his friends had all been busy. Keiko had been on his case again, yammering about the fight he _hadn't_ instigated against some green punks- no matter what she thought. It would seem that she wouldn't believe him even when he vehemently denied starting that fight- _'Stupid punks'_.

He longed to maybe just sit and bask in the feel of that shrine. To feel the soothing energies that he knew were a direct result of the family that occupied and took care of that holy property. He knew Keiko would be surprised to hear him say that, and he knew she would change her mind from content shock to jealous fury when he told her that he would like to visit the shrine's priestess as well- _'Jealous chit'_.

Yusuke growled out at his thoughts, effectively scaring away some of those passing by that had been a little too close for_ their_ comfort. Which drew him to thoughts of pride about the reputation he had established…then his scowl found its way onto his calmly masked face. He had wanted to be viewed as the tough guy who could hold his own in a fight, but now people always blamed him or starting the fights. And all this thinking was getting him nowhere. His scowl deepened even as he reflected on some things he should be grateful for. It was summer time after all…

That meant that Keiko couldn't get mad at him for missing any of his 'precious' schooling. His scowl only deepened even more at the reminder of her nagging, and he kicked at a stray pebble on the sidewalk as he slouched even further into his gait.

'_Too bad they can't have a school for-'_ His thoughts were abruptly cut off.

"Yusuke!" A happy shout of his name had him looking up startled, and when his gaze met Souta he was almost too pleased for the pleasant interruption to his clouding thoughts. The cheerful child was grinning from his position near a street lamp and was waving his arm energetically as he beckoned him over.

"Yo Souta, what's up?"

He grinned up at him as he neared, and Yusuke noticed the small height that seemed to be inherent in their family, and it got him wondering how such a small family could feel so intimidating…

"I'm here with my sister. We had a little episode with some of her older - errr – belongings and we had to go out and buy some new stuff."

Yusuke was confused for only a moment, until the sister in question came out of a store with a beaming smile on her face and a 'thank you' being given over her shoulder to whatever worker in the store had helped her. She held herself differently, and Yusuke took note of the way the obviously new, crisp clothes seemed to suit her so much more than the clothes he had seen her in at her house.

She seemed to walk with a more predatory gait and the loose fitting and conservative outfit gave her an aura of someone who knew exactly how to brandish her weapon of choice. Yet as he watched her in this element that seemed to be hers he was struck by how _ancient_ she looked. He cringed at the thought even as he admitted it to be true.

An age seemed to cling to her as she walked like the warriors he had encountered. She was proud and confident; she walked with the predatory grace of the animals he had seen on those stupid shows Keiko watched all the time.

He scowled as his thoughts drifted to Keiko. If she found out he thought someone ancient she would box his ears in for being rude.

"Yusuke?" The quiet inquiry drew him out of his thoughts and he smiled sheepishly with a chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck. Kagome smiled in reply and placed her bags by her feet as she pulled her brother under her arm.

"You know I was just thinking about visiting your shrine."

Souta stiffened up but Yusuke caught the way Kagome's arm tightened around her brother and her other hand soothed down the hair in his head and back of neck. "You wished to pay your respects to the gods? Or did you just wish to visit with my family."

Yusuke ginned at her, taking in the way she seemed to calm her brother down even as she paid no noticeable attention to him. "I actually enjoy your shrine as much as I enjoy the company."

She looked straight up at him then, and got a thoughtful look on her face as she looked around the street area they were in. "We are almost done here, if you seek our peace so much then I am sure we can make the time for you to enjoy our shrine." She turned an inviting smile to him and pulled her brother playfully along with her as she started walking to another store. "Join us, I won't take long, I swear." She laughed gently as she led them down the street.

It was only one shop that Kagome went to and Yusuke found himself enjoying the silent companionship the siblings exuded even away from their home shrine. Despite all the misgivings of Hiei and Kuwabara, Yusuke saw no reason to stay away from this family. Not when they welcomed him like this, so unexpectedly. _'Even with their own misgivings they invited me to join them,_' Yusuke thought as he remembered Souta's reaction to his mentioning of visiting the shrine.

Kagome was still hard to read, but Yusuke ignored that in favor of enjoying the day he spent with them. Souta waited outside the shop with him, they watched people, Kagome laughed with them, and he had a generally good time. He even had a good laugh at Kagome's expense, when she met up with some people that quickly established themselves as her old friends.

He frowned slightly- laughter that had turned stale when he realized these friends had turned out to be old and stale and apathetic. His laughter stopped as the friends – three females and one male – created a terse silence among the previously happy group, and Yusuke felt himself tensing up in indignation.

Kagome said nothing, gazing out at her friends with an amiable serene look on her face and Yusuke raised an eyebrow and held back Souta with a firm hand on his arm. "It is so nice to see you guys, how long has it been?" The veiled sarcasm seemed to pass over the group before them, and Yusuke watched them shift nervously in the face of the question.

"Higurashi-san we weren't aware that you had been released from the hospital."

Yusuke felt her brother tense irately under his hand and heard the muttered and dark whisper. "Not like you knew she was in the hospital until jii-chan told you…idiot…bitches…." Momentarily shocked at the foul word he heard from the usually polite child Yusuke missed a snatch of the conversation, only coming back to reality when Souta angrily wrenched his arm away and stood in between his sister and the four new arrivals.

"Yes, excuse us, we are expected home you see. Mother will get worried if we spend too much time away."

They started to walk away from the naïve group and Yusuke watched the siblings tense up as the four called out their farewells. "We hope you are better Higurashi-san." The boy called out, but the calls of the girls were falsely familiar, and irritating as well as insulting. "Yeah! Make sure that you have no more of those odd spells okay!" A short haired female stated as the wavy haired girl nodded shyly in agreement.

Yusuke found himself bristling at the looks Kagome was getting, and even more so when she just tilted her chin ever so slightly higher and gave a regal nod before turning to them and blinking only once as they walked away.

Footsteps faded from the auditory senses…

Voices faded from mind and memory…

And Yusuke watched as Souta growled and reached for his sister's hand. She clutched his fingers to hers, curling the longer and more feminine hand around the much smaller and innocent hand of her brother. And she drew strength from her brother.

Yusuke walked quietly beside them on the way back to their shrine, wondering at the contact and fuming at the looks. He saw no need for those people to treat Kagome like a pariah. Or look at her like she was a leper. He seethed and clenched his hands into fists, out of the siblings view, and tilted his head down to hide his angry expression.

The angry muttering of Souta reached his ears, and he couldn't help but catch some phrases that…cleared a few things up for him. "Stupid infidel…odd spells…HAH..." The mumbled words rolled together into a growl, and Yusuke had to wonder about these…odd spells.

But they arrived at the shrine with nary another mishap or awkward meeting, and Yusuke found himself once gain entering through onto the shrine grounds and felt the ever present feeling of being watched and judged and weighed against some set standard. Satisfied with him he felt the mood shift and morph into the acceptance and lazy haze that he now associated with this shrine.

Ms. Higurashi and the old man glanced up at them as they entered the home to place their packages away so their hands would be free to show him the shrine grounds. Kagome's steps seemed to quicken, and her eyes seemed to start a fire as they approached the main touring area of the shrine, the one more accessible to the public, and she spun a little excited scan of the grounds – her home – before she breathed deeply with a satisfied look on her face and turned to smile at him and her brother.

Souta grinned.

"How do you like history Yusuke?"

Her brother grinned even more as he too turned to Yusuke with a happy glance at his sister. Yusuke didn't respond for a minute and Souta turned pleading and exhilarated eyes up to him. "Just tell her to talk; you'll be in for a treat." Kagome laughed and Yusuke found himself nodding in genial agreement to the boy's pleading eyes and Kagome's anticipation.

So the young woman laughed and spun to gesture to the sacred tree, protected by the symbolic paper chain, and she began her dance of words. Yusuke found himself hanging onto every utterance of her mouth, and to his astonishment he found himself _living_ the history she talked about as if it were just yesterday. The shrines origins, the original holy line, the allies throughout history, the rumored demon involvement with her predecessors…

The strange light never left her eyes, and her enthusiasm only seemed to heighten as he listened to her weave a tale not so much of imagination but of fact- one that she took pride in as her birthright. So he smiled and walked with the siblings, enjoying the simple aura of contentment they radiated just being in each other's presence and on their home lands.

Their walk came to a much greener patch of grass, newer than the surrounding greenery and much more…different. Kagome's smile faded as she ran her hands through the rough patch of new seedlings and dirt patches. "So much history was right here." Her mournful tone made him shift his gaze around in unease, and he noticed the signs of decayed wood from an ancient structure, and his gaze snapped back to the siblings. "This used to be the bone eaters well, where the mikos and warriors who protected the village," her hand waved absentmindedly to the city around her, "from demons attacks and bandits would throw the remains of their opponents as sacrifice and thanks to the gods that protected them."

Souta flinched slightly and gazed away for a moment before he too kneeled by his sister. Yusuke only took a moment to realize that they were paying respects to the ancients- the gods the ancestors praised and their predecessors themselves.

They both raised their heads simultaneously in the direction of the numerous shrine steps and Yusuke followed their gaze to spot two of his team members crossing the zenith of the immense steps. He felt a brief feeling of disappointment and irritation that he wouldn't get to finish his tour of the family shrine grounds, but the looks on his cohorts' faces caused a different emotion to replace those- fear and worry.

.X.

The hybrid of fire and ice – one that should never have existed due to all practical and logical sense – scowled darkly as he watched Yusuke note their presence, along with the two siblings. He didn't like it when people could sense him, even more so when he understood mostly nothing about said people. He had long ago gotten used to Yusuke being strong enough o detect him sometimes, oftentimes causing Hiei some form of pride that his teammates were so strong.

But he scowled even more when he realized that Koenma once again had messed something up. Voices were still ringing in his ears from the Reikai offices, where he had been to meet with his teammates, but they had been unable to reach Yusuke, and had finally been forced to use his Jagan eye and some trackers to place him at the shrine. Curiously enough, the communicator and scans of Reikai couldn't reach onto the shrine grounds, and Koenma had been even more annoyed.

As a result the fox and he had been sent to retrieve their wayward teammate and leader, for Kuwabara would have caused unnecessary delays if he started a fight with the toushin about the importance of being punctual and such.

Hiei growled even more, he had only gone to fetch the leader because if they had to get their asses reamed by their ever so paranoid 'boss' he wouldn't be one to suffer alone- not over something as petty as approaching the Higurashis and their shrine when not directly ordered to do so.

So he half-heartedly listened when Kurama explained – politely and as diplomatically as ever – why Yusuke was needed in the Reikai offices and why they needed to go as soon as possible. Instead he found his attention drawn to the kneeling siblings, and he almost shifted under the combined force of their gazes. Once again the woman was sizing him up, for something he knew not of, and the young boy was once more looking at him with that inscrutable glare.

Hiei didn't really want to be there. Not under the scrutiny of whatever and whoever lived and resided in the shrine grounds or to see the two siblings in their natural habitat and walking around with all the ease of a strong and trusting relationship. Not now.

He didn't want to be under their scrutiny and wonder if that was just simple chariness or actual hate in the young boy's eyes, and he didn't want to try to understand why the female was looking at him with that unreadable expression in her eyes- no, it wasn't unreadable, it was just such a myriad of emotions that Hiei couldn't find the will to decipher them all.

As long as this family stayed an enigma, he could hold true to _his_ morals.

Family was not something you interfered with, and if you did may the denizens of hell take pity on your soul.

So he gave the family a curt nod as Yusuke grumbled and acquiesced to Kurama's suggestion to accompany them, and he turned his back on them swiftly so he wouldn't be distressed once more with the presence of such close siblings.

They left the shrine without incident, and Hiei almost growled low in relief when they reached the intimidating stairs to leave the shrine to grounds that Reikai _could _monitor.

Then he felt it.

A violent snap of energy and power rushed along him.

Hiei stumbled catching himself just before he fell into the ground and whipping around to stare at the shrine they knew so well. His Jagan was searching out the energies, and to his rising horror he understood what was going on. "It's an unauthorized portal!"

His friends looked at him like he was crazy, never having understood that a portal was actually creating a rip in the energies that separated space or time, and unauthorized would have no protective shield around it to prevent physical affects like the tremors they could still feel coursing along the ground.

His eyes were almost distracted from watching the energy when the family emerged from their house; the broken and unfamiliar family came towards the break in energy as if they had never been apart, and the strangely unified formation shocked him only for a moment before he was once again focused on the portal.

As much as the now united family shocked him - coming from the previously and obviously divided and strained family they had been leaving at the shrine – the conflicting energy of the portal grasped more of his attention.

The energy snapped together into one solid swirling mass of grey and red, and Hiei felt his muscles tense even more as he expected something …anything to come out and greet the Higure shrine. The power paused and fluxed seeming to test out the energy of the shrine and react to the presence the reikai tantei had felt watching them.

Kurama startled slightly out of the corner of his eye, yet his gaze remained true to a rather shady corner of the lot, reaching into the woods he could tell stretched far beyond the city into the rural forests. The energy and the color of the energy circled and swerved over that one spot. Continuing its dance and upsetting the natural soothing energy of the shrine and its inhabitants, and it kept on swirling, and dancing, and moving.

Then the energy paused, the seemingly unstoppable force not daring to move; frozen in one vibrant display of power in the brash and unruly strokes of color. Hiei shifted his eyes around uneasily; afraid with each passing moment that whatever wanted that portal…had _already_ come through.

The tense and strategically positioned family seemed to pause in their energy as well, expecting something….

Then something shady and dark and foreboding fell through, and the portal snapped closed with a considerable snap along the higher senses most here possessed. The family was still tense, and Kagome moved forward to inspect the bundle. The closer she got, the more sure her steps became, and the more her face relaxed. Her family, growing more confused, relaxed with the females lowering defenses, and when she lowered herself to break off the arrow shaft imbedded in the bodies heart, the steady and sharp snap resounded through the silent air.

Nothing could possibly harm the family and those present, for all that had come through was the slightly decaying and dilapidated body of some male. Hiei found he was sneering in disgust at the scent that started to waft through the air and turned his head to the side. But he couldn't.

The ease with which the human woman seated herself beside the grossly disfigured form and the experience belied when she expertly broke the arrow shaft spoke to his warriors training, and his eyes would not be drawn away from capturing any detail. The small but relaxed smile that graced her mouth was oddly juxtaposed by the blood under her hands, and the body turned to ash.

Still holding the shaft of the arrow, Kagome Higurashi stood swiftly with only the sound of her clothes making a crisp swish and the clip of her traditional shrine sandals as she took a step back from the pile of ash that got carried away on the wind. He could only watch in some confusion, carefully concealed, as the serene expression on her face only seemed to become more so, and the ease with which she walked fall into a more relaxed lope.

The surprisingly plain arrow in her hands turned to ash as well, and Hiei only glanced the faint twining of power around the splintered shaft before it was gone in the wind with the demons ashes.

'_Kurama?_' He sent out the thought trail to his partner, damming Koenma for his timing and inadequacy, and maybe his paranoia- as rational as it is, it clouded his judgment and made him incompetent. The fox sent him a wave of acknowledgment along the link he had opened up, and Hiei latched onto it. _'The arrow…it is not of any world or_ _making I know of._'

Kurama startled and turned his gaze away from the family, '_I am afraid I wasn't _looking, the family just…' Hiei shifted his eyes to him to encourage his close comrade to continue, 'they were so strained before.'

Kurama needn't say anymore to the hybrid, for he too had noticed the way the family pulled together to watch each other's backs even though the turmoil of change and time had wrought a chasm between them.

Time had wrought many things upon this family- these things that made them so different from any ningen family that he had previously encountered, and somewhat different from any demons he had met as well. Time would continue to change this family and warp their mysteries and character, and Hiei could only guess what they would discover with so much prolonged contact with the mysterious Higurashis.

And like all truly ironic truths of life; _only time could tell_.

.x.X.x.

.x.

Sorry for all mistakes, but this is the new chapter. (I was actually going to put Hiei as Angst ridden instead of distressed…yah) And I am sooooo sorry for the long wait! Truly!


	9. Revelations

Amidst the heavy screen of woods, the sounds of shifting wind reached the demon's ears. An unusual sound, as the forest around his home was usually as still as the death he worked to prevent, and even the birds and wind that he could usually only see for their affecting the environment were curiously still.

Although no sounds emitting from his forest was normal, the unusual quality of this silence _was not_.

So the hulking mass of a seemingly ageless demon raised itself from his crouched position, and he turned to face his disturbed woods.

_Who would dream to even seek me out?_

He took in a deep breath, trying to isolate exactly the reason why his forest was feeling such tumultuous fright and need. He shook his large head, and turned it to the side, the better for one wide set eye to get the full view of the troubled area of his forest and lands.

The stillness didn't really unnerve him, as he knew none would dare come so far to what was his just to harm him; there would be a very good reason to harm what he considered his though. Eyes narrowed at a perceived threat taking note of the positions of all he deemed his creatures in the immediate vicinity.

His forest was so unusual because of the animals that inhabited it, for someone to come so far into his domain…would mean that they were poaching _his_ animals. A deep hiss came from his mouth, and he straightened himself up to his full height, larger than what he used to be in the sengoku era, and far more stronger. He would protect what was his.

All was for naught, as in the next moment the demon lord of the west himself emerged from the shadowy foliage as if he was once apart of it. If the Lord was the intruder, he would have no interest in any means - other than his own - to increase his power and status; that much he admired about the lord, and so he would hear him out.

"Sesshoumaru-sama. What brings you to my humble lands?"

A regal eyebrow lifted and the demon lord shifted a casual look around the forest, before the lord smirked in amusement. "Your humble lands contain the one I seek," a sharp glance was thrown his way from those golden eyes, "as what the fates set in motion so long ago is finally coming to pass."

The broad figure straightened, turning his head to the stars and searching for his answer.

The wind whistled one long hollow note through the still trees, and he nodded his head. "So it would seem the truth." So the larger demon shook his head and made a sweeping and elaborate gesture to a certain path through a very certain set of trees- made all the more impressive by the hefty size and length of the arm used in the gesturing; an arm that was scarred and calloused with work and weather and few battle scars.

The lord nodded his assent and the two forms walked through the peculiarly illuminated path, being careful to watch where they placed their steps and cautious as to where they left their marks.

They broke through the dense foliage to come upon a well tended garden; meticulous rows of tilled dark earth the only thing breaking the fresh and straight green herbs planted painstakingly and lovingly.

Sesshoumaru only hesitated slightly, almost unnoticeably if not for the fact that he had not had a visitor of such importance – let alone one at all – for such a long time that he had been watching the lord ever so carefully, before he spoke. "Jinenji-san, I had not planned to contact you so early, but there have been some miscalculations in the plans we had arranged- Enma-sama is increasingly wary of losing his power."

Jinenji sighed gustily, the faint whistling undertone letting the forest come back to its semblance of life; nothing was seriously wrong, the world as his forest lived was going to survive even if their master and lord was unsettled.

And he was unsettled.

Outwardly calm, thinking deeply and thoroughly, but unsettled. They could feel it. But it wasn't enough for them to panic, oh no, this had nothing to do with them; at least, not for the moment.

Jinenji took a deep breath as he settled himself down to a more comfortable height for the conversation that was sure to ensue. Sesshoumaru followed his lead, settling himself elegantly upon one of the grassy knolls that Jinenji's forest created in abundance. "The spirits and would-be-gods have always clung to their power, what is so different this time?"

Sesshoumaru gave him a criticizing look – as if judging Jinenji for his faithfulness – before he finally conceded: "Our miko has already been ensnared in their sight. And they were present when first contact was made."

Jinenji's startled eyes turned to the lord before they spun around to stare into the sky again, and the wind and leaves and animals were still with his unease. "Kagome-sama is returned?"

The demon lord Sesshoumaru nodded his head and scowled lightly as he gazed into obscure facts and rumors. "We sent out first contact, but I was unable to aid our Shiori with the barrier to keep it from the Reikai scales; although they only knew it because they were present at the shrine itself."

Jinenji gained a curious look upon his face before he nodded, "Kagome has always been one with hidden power; I wouldn't be surprised if she somehow encouraged some sort of barrier to grow around her shrine should such occasion arise for this necessary expediency."

Sesshoumaru's eyes flashed with the knowledge and a nod of his head told Jinenji that he had already thought of this once before. But then again, their miko always was one to surprise them. It would be best if they kept their minds open for when they really found out the truth- lest they be shocked into weakness.

Jineji smiled and threw his head back while he closed his eyes. A deep breath and a faint hum of his youki along the earth set his forest to its semblance of life again, and he turned back the lord beside him with a grin. "I think she will be very pleased to see us so soon."

And amidst the heavy screen of woods and upon a grassy knoll, the two powerful and ancient demons reflected on plans and the future with the disarming grin of two predators not intending to kill their prey.

.x.

Yukio sighed as he walked up the shrine steps to what he hoped would be a better encounter. He cringed slightly as he recounted most of his previous encounters with the Higurashi children. No matter what he always somehow ended up offending one of them- and when one was offended so was the other.

But he hadn't meant for it to be taken so harshly…just like he hadn't meant to get so close to the family.

His mission had been to watch, protect, and wait, only taking time once and a while to be the Good Samaritan of a stranger when the family needed help. In fact; when he thought back; he had been there for a long time.

He sighed as he made it to the top of the grounds and stopped to pay his respects to the Goshinboku. He had been there when their father had …left. And he had been there as they grew up and there when the well shed had collapsed onto the ancient and revered structure it had protected from the elements.

He scowled lightly as he flicked his hair out of his face and let his visage soften into the sigh that seemed to come from the depths of his chest and make his shoulders sink. He hadn't meant to fall in love with the lovely Higurashi matriarch, but he had. And dammit he was screwing everything up!

He mopped his face with his hands and reflected back to why he came today of all days. He had to confess; the elder child had been giving him searching looks, and he had to come clean soon or risk her finding out on her own under worse circumstance.

The tension was building, as the ningens were not stupid despite what most of those residing in makai thought, and he could already see some of those reactions he so feared appearing…

But then, he could also see the reactions of the Higurashi siblings- surprising him with the little smiles and proud looks they displayed, this all-knowing aura that seemed to cling to them no matter the circumstance. He had always bee safe in the fact that he was able to think of the family as a means to an end- but now they were human and sometimes vulnerable and so much more than a duty. He _loved_ the matriarch- and he had to be accepted by the children before she would think of anything further. But those children were so unnerving. They were special and knowledgeable and …intimidating.

Their eyes seemed to know, and the kids seemed to wait and watch and smile.

Yukio shivered; especially Kagome's. Those two reactions told him that some would not react as harshly to what was coming, not like what he expected from certain sects of the population.

The cults – the ones attended by those with any real sensitivity – were growing restless, and they knew something was going to happen. If any of those types got an inkling as to what was happening then there would be sacrifices and blood rites and some stupid demon taking advantage of their occult mentality.

The government- heavens and deities forbid _they_ ever get some type of control. Yukio shook his head with a disgusted look, those ruling powers made such a mess of their world, what would they do with the three?

Suddenly he stopped and stiffened, and as he slowly turned he saw the gaze of the two siblings watching his back as he thought at the base of what had been once described as her tree; _Heiwa no miko_.

Their mother was smiling at him and he couldn't help the answering smile, even if he had tried. He knew he couldn't help it.

So it was with his dopey love-sick grin that he spotted the look the eldest was giving him and it startled that expression right off his face. Indescribable as it was, he turned to his courting partner and bowed slightly. "If you wouldn't mind giving me some time," he hesitated, "I believe I need to speak to your daughter."

Wondering brown eyes drifted to the just mentioned daughter before the woman gave an accepting answer and took her son into the house gently, leaving the courtyard to only two.

Two who _knew_.

"Yes Yukio?"

He motioned with his head for them to sit on the bench in front of the sacred tree, and he only had to take a slight pause as he noticed how much there was a reaction to her presence. Her elegant movements seated her as close as possible and the very air seemed to hum with an intense feeling of joy before the young woman giggled and brought him back to his less ethereal senses.

He softly chuckled – sheepishly – and seated himself a little ways down the bench. To which Kagome gave him an odd searching look- only causing him to blush more. He never had been really good with kids, and he supposed it was just the deities' ironic way of scolding him; to make him fall in love with a woman who birthed not one but two beautiful children.

Let alone one child being her…

He was brought sharply to face her when she abruptly threw her head back and took a deep breath. "Kami, I love my shrine."

Yukio felt his face go slack and his eyebrows rise at the rather random conversation opener, before he thought about it more. This was not a child; in fact this was a woman who was said to be one of the most influential miko in history. This woman understood the meanings underneath, so he had to understand as well.

'…_MY_…shrine;' She knew.

She knew.

O kami, she knew.

Yukio stood up abruptly and spun to face her directly. Her shocked face looked up at him, before her mouth formed a little amused smile and she shook her head as she patted the bench beside her once more.

"I don't bite you know." Her grin turned all together too mischievous. "Of course, I have been told that I do bark much worse."

Yukio startled at the admission and could only blush at his childishness. This was a miko who was renowned for accepting all- and here he was frightened of her for simply knowing. She gave him a welcoming and small smile and he sighed. "You do know. And I am sorry if I offended you."

A laugh: "No offense taken, since it wasn't your intent."

Yukio sighed and took his seat again; he had found himself sighing too much lately. Reflecting on harsh and hasty decisions made too quickly and his immense lack of knowledge when dealing with his new situation in life made for one very regretful and melancholy hanyou (1). He loved his courted, and he loved this shrine- the history just seemed to ooze into your skin and take you to the better days of openness and true hierarchy.

He just hadn't known how to deal with children…at all! So how was he supposed to react? -Especially to her, of all people. She was a legend amongst them- the rebels who were searching for the cure to the sick lands of makai. He had grown up hearing stories of all that she had accomplished- all that she had taught! And here she was young enough to be his niece from his younger brother's mate!

He shook his head and mopped his face as he sent her a searching glance from the corner of his eye, and sighed (once again!) as he started. He might as well get it over with before he got any more nervous; "I am amongst those who rebel against the stigma of _makai_, and search for the higher peace and order you advocated in your travels." She smiled brightly and nodded her head- now sure that her teachings were reaching through the generations. "I was assigned by my group to watch over you and yours, to make sure that you were able to accomplish what had already been accomplished. I had been around this shrine for most of my life, and never have I seen it come alive as it had when you returned with your powers fully activated."

She sent him a sly glance, and with a start he realized that he was darting around the subject she would most want to know about- and she knew it. But he persisted; "I am to make sure that you are protected until your consort of fellow ancients get here;"

He was cut off by her hand on his arm, "I have figured as much- Yukio. What I want to know is if you really love my mother."

He opened his mouth to reply, start saying that _yes, he does love her mother, with all his heart_; but his gaze had been inexplicably locked into hers and he found himself lost in the gaze all the other ancients had never talked about.

It was rumored that she could hypnotize you with that stare, and makes you repent your sins and beg forgiveness with one look. He couldn't find any reason to disagree when he was younger- how else would she have gotten the allies she had?

But now as he looked into her eyes he understood. This was something you could describe and talk about and express again and again, but you would never be able to convey _exactly_ what it was.

There was something ageless there, in the blue and brown that seemed to change color with every shift of the wind. There was the ever present compassion, and the always known calm. But it was the knowledge, the acceptance of this knowledge that seemed to grab you by your heart and soul and hold you until you fully understood.

And he found he couldn't answer adequately enough- for this child could see through him if he lied, and this child seemed so much more … powerful than any words he could find- no matter how eloquent.

"I…I love your mother…so much." The sentence, broken as it was, had to be forced past his suddenly dry lips from an equally parched tongue. To his rising shame and horror he realized that he had a tear on his cheek, and only realized it when Kagome reached out and wiped it away with a gentle finger.

"Yukio, as long as it is love- there is nothing to be ashamed of." She took a pause and collected her thoughts visibly on her face. "I was half afraid that you were just using her as an excuse to watch over us…"

He stood up abruptly; "NO!"

And she continued; "but only one who is truly in love will cease to spout flowery words of little meaning when seriously and truly asked that one question." She drew up one leg and clasped her hands around it, sending any image he had of a regal and strictly trained miko crashing to the proverbial floor.

"You…? I don't…."

She smiled with a small dimple on her left cheek, and he distractedly wondered why he hadn't noticed that before. This creature in front of him was nothing like he was expecting- and he had watched her grow up! He had watched every fall, every test of her character…he had watched her and her bond wit her brother, had watched when she had no father to turn to, he had even watched as this female took the first step into her destiny…

_She entered the well house after her brother and he only faintly heard the conversation, but when the timbers and boards of the overhead structure started to moan and whine, he had the rising horror that he couldn't do anything- he had already pulled the Good Samaritan act that day and would be easily recognized and suspicious._

He sighed with release. "I'm not very good with people." She nodded at his admission before a bemused smile made its way onto her face- her cheek didn't dimple with it and he found himself oddly missing it.

"I think you will be with time- you just have to remember something."

_He heard and smelled the panic of the two children, and only faintly saw the teens shadow cover the child's before there was too much dust and debris. The sounds of wood and time decaying and breaking and crashing on top of his two charges was horrifying to his sensitive ears- but as the dust settled and timbers settled he heard he faint breathing over the frantic sounds of the Higurashi and neighbors calling and searching for the two children._

He turned a mildly curious expression to her before she deigned to answer him. "If people can't accept you for what you are - hanyou, shy, reserved, and unsure – then there will be nothing true to that relationship as it grows to its eventual destruction."

_It seemed an eternity before the rubble was cleared and he had to watch as his eldest charge was pulled gently off her younger brother, and the dazed child recovered his wits enough to realize his sister was motionless. He found himself as grief stricken as the boy- even though he had no real connection to them. This was the way for him to be free- and there she was almost on deaths threshold._

_But as he watched, it seemed that her spirit burst forth from her body in a precious breath of life and energy, and she only looked once sadly and confusedly at her family before she was pulled in a whirlwind of energy and time to disappear- leaving only a faint hovering of her soul as an awareness near her body._

_He could only watch in shock- and wait._

_So it was true…Kagome, the miko of peace had never really been to the past, but rather a physical manifestation of something they couldn't understand back then, and didn't really understand even now._

He watched her walk away, after she smiled at him with the dimple that he found he now adored, and couldn't help the overwhelmed feeling of awe and wonder and respect. _That_ was the Heiwa no miko; the priestess of peace who preached of acceptance over time and effort and honest work. One of the few teachers in history who played a major role in all cultures and races, and one who always taught that acceptance - on any level – was the best start for anyone and the best way for people to live and grow.

And she would live by this as she had taught it when she was in the past.

_As Her spirit had been in the past._

He nodded his head and started towards his courted with a smile- Kagome had approved of him and his relationship with her mother, now he had to come clean and hope for the best. That was the only way to start.

And it was the only way he would.

.x.

.x.X. .X.x.

Yay! Updated! I'm sorry, but I injured my hand and my typing is very slow with MAJOR typos and it takes so bloody long! Grrrr. So sorry for the mistakes but I don't have a beta and I don't have the time to go through and edit until alter tonight (but why deprive people of my plot? At least those who review are interested- no flames yet!) But I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! X

I had the thought to make this Inuyasha, but the idea _almost_ creeped me out, so no. It's not Inu in disguise- sorry!

This was supposed to be a chap with three diff povs, but I kind of got carried away with Yukio's… oops?

Oh yeah- did I dredge up enough Yukio sympathy?

**PS**; I am very …gurrgh. Okay; I was reading to find some inspiration- and found a story with less _and_ shorter chaps than mine (OMG I hate short chapters! lol) and they had _over _200 reviews, to say the least it made me feel very stupid and discouraged- so I would loooove it if people actually reviewed. PLEase?


	10. Baka

Koenma was pacing- again. He had sent Hiei out on a reconnaissance mission to the makai, as rumors from that world had been reaching him. He usually put no stock in these rumors, they were just one way for him to keep a general eye on the population of makai; as ruthless and unforgiving as it was there, gossip and rumors were usually helpful and mostly truth.

The unauthorized portal had stunned him, and it had been made worse by the fact that his father head been entertaining the esteemed lord when the alarms had blared off. Needless to say, neither of his superiors had been very happy.

He gave an exaggerated and mournful sigh as he glanced at the blinking time; it was mocking him he was sure. First it was mocking him because he hadn't even had enough influence and power to stop his detectives from continuing their contact with the Higurashi family, and then it was mocking him because he had seemed to prove himself inept and let a portal escape his attention to reach _that_ shrine.

Things just weren't going his way.

Koenma let out a deep and pitiful sigh, and his head seemed to bow down as if in defeat. But alas, nothing seemed to go his way, at least not when it was important.

Koenma sighed as he let his mind drift; too many things to think about had led to a very vexing morning and too many more questions and very few answers and…

Well…

You see.

'_Hiei should be back soon.'_ He had sent him out earlier, and glancing at the mocking time display again, he took a deep breath. He had sent out the forbidden child to do some rumor gathering and maybe even gather some solid facts- but_ no_ Hiei had to take his precious time; and waste his.

Koenma cast a chagrined expression to the pile of papers threatening to engulf his desk like some wood eating demon from the makai. It's not that  
Hiei was keeping him from doing that paperwork; he just provided a handy excuse to push his legal work to the side.

Then he sighed and tried to growl as he held himself back from swiping at the papers and making them fall into a nice little mess of obscurity to further delay his work…but he had received one too many paper cuts that way. No matter how small they were those damn cuts sting!

As he looked at the paper again he growled once more sure it was mocking him- just as he made his move to upset the precariously balanced work, the portal opened to admit Hiei into his office. (And the paper sighed in relief).

He spun to face his charge angrily- or as angrily as he could make himself look, there was just something about the forbidden child that made anyone else's anger seem so petty and miniscule. And he drew himself up and cleared his throat. It was best to get straight to the point with this demon- lest he lead you on a round about path away from what you really needed to know.

Hiei was like that.

So Koenma figured he wouldn't let Hiei skirt around the subject he most wanted to hear about and started the questioning directly. This way…he would have to answer all that Koenma wanted- else Hiei be in violation of his probation.

So it was with a gleam in his eye and a haughty shift into his leather seat that he began. "There are rumors of an uprising. Are the demons planning another violent coup?"

Hiei snorted and Koenma couldn't decide if it was at the question or at the pitiful demons he held himself above. "Hardly; no violent uprising," And his eyes flashed a crimson ruby. Koenma raised an eyebrow and settled deeper into his chair, tilting his head at just the right angle for Hiei to know he _had_ to continue. He rolled his eyes; "None of the demons that I encountered were making any moves to initiate a coup- even then you know it would be disorganized and faulty."

Koenma nodded his head in satisfaction before he relaxed further into his chair- this not a sign of authority but ease. Because it was true- demons just didn't work together very well. Many a times the demons who inhabited the lands of tainted makai had tried to revolt so they could indulge in a blood bath or two, but they always somehow ended up fighting amongst themselves and indulging in their more carnal and selfish desires to make secret alliances and stab one another in the back.

He always managed to find some amusement that they were the cause of their own imprisonment, but enough was enough.

If there was no hint of another such violent uprising (more detrimental to the makai demographic census than his position) then he had no cause for worry.

So he smiled as he laced his fingers together behind his head, and he sent Hiei on his way. He smirked as the demon disappeared, for there was no reason for him to worry now. He had the answers he needed, and he had the time he wanted.

His position was safe.

He deadpanned as he had the fleeting thought; _'My posterior will be safe as well.'_

You just never knew with his father.

So he swung his chair back and forth with his feet planted firmly on his desk for leverage, and he only stopped his jubilant humming when he once gain caught sight of the damnable papers.

Maybe he didn't have all that free time he had been dreaming of….

And it was with a rather loud exclamation of annoyance that the ogres in the hall and connecting room were informed that their boss was _once again_ going to work.

.x.

Hiei raced through the looming branches of the park, knowing that his associates would be where he needed them to be, now that they knew something big was going on and they needed to pay attention to it.

Although the team had had an altercation over Yusuke's presence at the shrine, they had resolved the differences without much trouble. After all, they couldn't blame one another; it wouldn't do for them in working conditions. And Yusuke had gotten some feel of the family and how it interacted.

They just had to put it all together.

He growled slightly in pleasure- something he would kill over if anyone heard it. He wasn't one to voice his satisfaction- but the toddler (as Yusuke had aptly named the Prince of the spirit world) had proved exactly why he had to be paranoid, he needed to be so to balance his own ineptitude. He scoffed and landed swiftly, no sound but the faint hiss of dust disturbed by his abrupt presence, and he turned to his team mates. Kurama was already there, leaning against a tree and Hiei hoped conversing- moving the mouth like that without talking to someone was the sign of insanity.

He sent the fleeting thought to the fox and chuckled as Kurama startled out of his plant induced daze and sent him a glare that turned to a smirk. _'It is also, my friend, the sign of a genius. One would think since you are so disinclined to speak you are wary of being pronounced idiot_.'

Hiei growled lightly at Kurama due to his teasing, but let it slide. The fox was one he would allow to tease him, but for now they had serious business to attend to. Koenma was now blind to the real happenings of makai, listening only to those of violence and political upheaval.

Hiei, in contrast, listened to all that he could.

And he found himself in a much better position than the prince of reikai- in regards to knowledge at least. Koenma had the thought to question him directly instead of letting him lead the conversation somewhere, but Hiei knew that not even Koenma would give him the exact questions to tell _this_ information. He just wouldn't' think of something like this.

Granted, Hiei gave him that he wouldn't have thought of it either, but now he had heard he rumors and it made a little more sense to him- and brilliant.

But Hiei was loyal to only few, his family and the teammates that had accepted him; certainly not to a reikai brat who thought he could boss him around just to pay for some debt he believed he owed- Hiei was sure that the dark tournament had paid off the debt, Koenma was just itching for workers, being unable to accomplish anything himself.

The team had gone silent, because he had obviously announced his presence with his landing and had not yet said a word. He nodded his head in confirmation, half proud that they could read him so well (it meant that they were getting better) and half perturbed that they could read _him_ so well.

"Koenma is finished with his paranoia for the day?"

Hiei smirked; "He asked the wrong questions, now I'll give you the right answers."

Kurama looked around discreetly, hiding his perusing glance behind a stretch and laugh. He nodded his head to the team and they all turned to the hybrid- no one was attempting to listen.

"There is no violent uprising." Yusuke grew confused, and Kuwabara opened his mouth to ask a question before Hiei continued, "In fact, the more violent and aggressive denizens of makai are unaware of anything concrete."

Kurama smirked happily with an enlightened look upon his face. "But you are aware of something aren't you?"

Hiei nodded his head to give the point, but they all knew it was more of a statement than a question. "There is no violent uprising, but there are rumors of the Eschew coming out. It would seem that they feel the time has come."

Yusuke and Kuwabara were confused, understandably so. The Eschew were a purely makai legend- and unless you had lived in the makai you would have heard nothing of them. Kurama answered their question before it was asked. "The Eschew are those demons that are gentle or impaired some way. They are the demons that don't fit into the general description of makai, and would gladly live along side each other peacefully if they weren't so hunted."

Yusuke stepped up. "You mean to tell me that there are demons out there that don't like to fight?"

Hiei snorted disdainfully, "Just as there are humans who would sooner tear your heart out to sell it than help a child from the ground."

Yusuke settled back in contemplation, but Kuwabara got that thinking glare on his face, and Hiei waited. It wasn't that the big man was a dunce, but he was the last to trust him- so Hiei was the last to trust Kuwabara. But he large man wasn't stupid, and the ideas he did come up with were helpful.

He cringed at the thought of them ever finding out he just thought that.

"The Eschew? To abstain?" Hiei turned fully to face the tall man, one eyebrow raised in honest curiosity. He shrugged in response, "My sis likes to read a thesaurus and laugh at the odd words."

Hiei snorted because he believed it, Kuwabara had a very strange family in that one woman after all. Kurama took the initiative and nodded before he answered. "They are those that try to avoid violence if they so can- mere rumors that circulate through makai every now and then, a legend within a legend if you so dare. It was even once said that a demon lord took the vow, becoming one of the Eschew, but I find that impossible considering he was a war lord in the Warring states era- he grew up with violence. And the inu no taiyoukai tomb has lain in plain sight for centuries."

Kuwabara leaned back, resting his broad shoulders against a convenient tree and ignoring the way that the rough bark bit into his skin and clothing. "So what are the rumors that have you looking like the cat that swallowed the cream?"

Directed at him; of course the big lug couldn't refrain for inserting some catty phrase. "There are rumors of Jinenji even coming to aid the others, and that they have found their prophet."

Kurama sported a confused expression as he brought up one hand to rub his chin. "I was under the impression that their prophet was a rather odd miko. There have been no such…" He trailed off as his expression lightened considerably and his whole body seemed to perk up from a funk.

Yusuke caught on strangely enough, and Kuwabara only took one confused look at them both before he as well followed their train of thought. "Are you saying that Kagome is somehow related to the original miko?"

Kurama nodded his head. "That would seem to be so; she is completely human by her scent and soul, and she does not look or feel like those old souls of the ancients…she must have somehow contacted the spirit…or learned from a personal scroll."

Hiei snorted, having entirely different thoughts about it than his team mates, but he wouldn't voice them just yet. After all, Hiei never went into any situation without researching thoroughly and gathering facts, he just didn't have enough facts to support his claim- and even in this time some things were considered impossible, even for demons and the spiritually aware.

So he listened as the conversation gained enthusiasm as they put together certain details and totally discarded other ideas- of course Kurama had a penchant for pulling out the correct details. But Hiei listened to them all, and snapped his head to them when a certain whispered comment caught his ears.

"What was that?" As always his voice was a smooth low growl, but his teammates had gotten used to hearing him- they had had many years of practice after all. Kuwabara looked up sheepishly, always somehow forgetting that his more demon companions could hear even the faintest sound if they concentrated enough.

But he reiterated. "I saw her…I met her old friends."

Yusuke scoffed. "I did too…the assholes."

Kuwabara shook his head. "No they…they were talking about the shrines odd events. Th' said something about Kagome and her family being creepy." Kuwabara swung to the next topic quickly. "Did you guys know that their shrine still does the old healing exorcisms and divination?"

Yusuke looked confused before his head cleared. "You mean that their family is a group of seers?"

Kurama intervened. "The old miko could converse with the gods, and they could exorcise and heal like any priest." He looked around the park again to help himself find words while Hiei leaned against the trunk of a tree to observe. "If they can still prophesize accurately then their original miko blood must have been very strong, I have yet to encounter a modern day family like this."

Kuwabara inserted himself back into the conversation. "They also started talking about how weird their family was…is it always like that for those who are different?"

Hiei now joined in, finding the conversation going to too familiar territory and wondering exactly how the Higurashi . "Was there anything else that they said?"

Kuwabara drew back in contemplative thought, murmuring faintly with his lips as he scratched his elbow and looked around detachedly. "Yeah, now that I think about it," his scrunched up his nose, "do you guys have any idea what the Higurashi meant to their old town?"

Hiei stopped glancing around to pay attention- that was the trouble they had. When portals were opened they were only transported to the town they needed to be in, and in the case of the Higurashi they knew nothing about their surrounding area. It leads to a rather difficult case (that the fox adored) unlike the ones where they had known sources and streets of their town.

But now they were in this city of Tokyo and were unable to collect rumors and gossip and facts fast enough to explain the Higurashi to them. That's all they really wanted really. Hiei had figured that Yusuke just enjoyed the shrine and its company because it was a soothing knot in all the chaotic turmoil of the rest of the city- there was no stink of pollution or stale air and there was no hint of the humans' tremulous thoughts and fickle emotions.

Not at this shrine at least.

Kuwabara enjoyed the family, pulled together and bonded even though they had their problems and worries and squabbles, and Kurama was always one for puzzles, but Hiei got the underlying hint of thought that suggested Youko had far more interest in something at the shrine.

He snorted and bothered to show he was paying attention, causing the larger man to blush lightly and scratch his head in embarrassment with a forced yet light chuckle. "It might just be something useless you know. I happen to..."

Hiei growled and snatched at the air with his claws extended, effectively cutting off the direction of the conversation as they all heard the approaching giggles of some females and their rather loud footsteps even on the soft earth of the park.

Yusuke glared and growled lightly, bringing Hiei's attention to his dark expression as he watched the girls from their relatively covered gathering place, and the equally dangerous expression on Kuwabara's visage sent warnings off in his mind. He stepped in front of them to block their path should they try anything stupid, but he found himself commiserating with them as they heard the conversation.

"O, my god! Can you believe how short she still is?"

There was a shrill laugh accompanied by some lighter chuckles, and their footsteps and vague figures settled around their position to rest under the shade of a rather daring tree- away from the true beginnings of the forest.

"Totally! Did you hear her speak? It's so weird? Like those characters form the old movies; you know?"

Another bout of laughter, "I so can't believe that she actually woke up. I mean that family is so crazy!"

"Speaking of crazy did you hear the news? All those stupid little cults were raving and had resorted to some violence that destroyed a district! I can't believe people can be so deluded!" A rather smart looking girl stated. (Hiei deadpanned).

The girls shared another round of laughter before a hail for their attention caught them- and the reikai tantei to attention. The rather lean brunette waved and smiled genially as he approached, even going as far as to close his eyes into mirthful crescents. Hiei scoffed as he joined them with some useless and annoying chattering before the conversation invariably shifted back onto its original course.

"Higurashi-san looked a little pale didn't she?"

A girl waved off his comment rather jeeringly. "You know she always was prone to those bouts of…illness."

The air around the group seemed to still as the teens shuddered in unison at the mere thought of those illnesses. Hiei noticed Yusuke look up alertly at the mentioning of this, eyes sharpening and pupils dilating as he focused on the female who had said this, cursing softly as the conversation seemed to dwindle slightly.

A girl broke out in laughter. "To think we actually believed that shit!" The rest joined in. "I mean; come on! Being able to see the future? Healing with a mere thought?"

A girl's giggle became shrill as she remembered with a hoot. "That family was always weird! Remember the old man who always was spouting off about illness and shit!" The male stretched out with a smile as the girl continued. "You'd think that the government had taken a leaf from their book?"

Giggle.

Hiei was starting to hate that sound.

"Yeah, those news casts about the so called mutants as a result of American science and nuclear bomb test is farfetched- even for government conspiracy."

They all nodded their heads, but Hiei was distracted by Kurama's muffled chuckle to turn and spot him holding both hands against his mouth and trying to suppress his laughter._ 'Trouble fox?'_

Kurama's mirthful green eyes looked up at him and he winked slightly as his eyes colored gold and green and emerald. _'For all that they seem to understand the politics of their world they are immensely stupid.'_

Hiei smirked bemusedly and shook his head once as he turned once again to view the gathered friends through the branches of the bushes and shrubbery and trees. The conversation gradually shifted to the amusement the group shared at the actions of the cults and governments, and Hiei found his mind drifting…

He needed to contact the miko, just to gauge if his suspicions were correct. But there was something more going on around this town, and he knew that they were on the beginning of something big…something that would change the world as they knew it.

Maybe Koenma had good reasons to be paranoid after all.

.x.X.x.

.x.

Next chapter I'm going to put out more info about the revolution that is going to occur…hopefully. And if I find the binder I kept all my roughs and ideas in I will get to put in some of the cults and governments reactions… and maybe even the reaction of the church (sweatdrops) I had so much trouble because all my notes were in a purple binder that I CAN'T FIND! WAHHHH! Lol, review and I'll take _any_ suggestions and all compliments! Peace!

(blushes) oh yeah, sorry about the typos. I can't get my sister to edit (she said she's tired of reading my story only when I update and refuse to read until I'm finished…which will be soon I hope ; ). So sorry!


	11. Revolutions

Yukio smirked as he darted to the back of his shop, making sure the workers knew to keep the customers up front as he entered a rather ill used storage room in the back. He had confessed to the Higurashi family, and had been very surprised.

Souta had been only slightly gob smacked before a grin had split his face and he had winked at his sister- obviously understanding that she had something to do with his sudden confession. The elder Higurashi had been understandably shocked and horrified, but Kagome had given her grandfather a rather gentle and telling look before he had acquiesced without much of a fuss- just some rather vague mumblings about demons gradually taking over the world and corrupting his family (only palatable because Kagome had smiled with a laugh and the man had come from a deeply devout Shinto family…).

His courted had been stunned before she had gained a rather bemused smile and creased forehead. _"I guess I should be used to things like this…"_ And she had given her two sheepish children a look before she had turned curious eyes to him.

He smiled now as he recalled the conversation he had had with his soon-to-be mate; it seemed that opening up to her allowed her and him to further their relationship. He laughed as he recalled the way grandfather had skirted around all of them for a while that day….

But he shook his head and moved some boxes from the wall in the storage room, unveiling a door that almost looked to be part of the wall. He licked his thumb and then bit it, smearing the blood across the threshold and framework. It lit up from the other side, the blood pooling and glowing as it filled the lines and archaic kanji that covered the door in its power.

When the glow settled, he pushed gently upon the central symbol, far larger than all the rest, and the door swung open. This wasn't a portal, or another room. O far from it. The scrying pool of the shop he owned was renowned amongst the makai rebels for its power and shields. As Yukio watched the strangely solid liquid shift and heard it conform to the door's intrusion with faint water like hisses he couldn't help the sense of pride that rushed along his hanyou veins. He had created this- around the reikai monitors and scales and rules – he had found a way between the worlds. Though, it was only for communicating…

He bowed slightly to it before he pressed his bleeding digit to the water that was yet not water, swiftly drawing the kanji for lord Sesshoumaru in the blood red that testified to his heritage.

While the lord wasn't the main head of the operation…he knew far more than most about the miko and the situation, and would be one of the most important players for their revolution to take place. As far as Yukio knew there really was no 'big guy' in this revolution they wanted to start (and finish- the little hopeful voice at the back of his head whispered) as it would be too obvious and far easier for Reikai to track the perpetrators then…and personal goals might get in the way of the whole.

He was after all, one who knew the miko far more personally than Yukio could even accomplish now that he was soon to be her stepfather. They had become two with a warrior bond, and Yukio couldn't help but slightly envy the lord for the friendship they would soon obviously share.

Yukio felt that he could never accomplish that…

He was pulled from these thoughts as the voice echoed from the scrying pool and the shifting colors moved and gathered to collect into the image of Sesshoumaru in all his regal attire.

"You have confessed."

Yukio shivered at the cool tones of the western lord, always finding it unnerving for him to know so much while not being informed and the way he said it as if he just wanted confirmation… "Yes, only had a little trouble convincing her grandfather."

Sesshoumaru nodded his head, his eyes getting a far away look that made Yukio shiver again- it just made them appear all the more colder. His eyes snapped back. "That would be the case; he was raised in the older shrines, even though he shows no sign of immense power." He looked off to the side, obviously listening to someone near by. That was the down side to his scrying pool; it only focused on the two people conversing and nothing else around them. "He will prove to be a useful healer should he aid our cause."

Yukio nodded, not being able to help himself as the dreamy smile overcame him and his thoughts turned to Ms Higurashi. Sesshoumaru's chuckle brought him to the present and he had the decency to blush at being caught so unguarded by his superior before he sobered. "How are things on that front? I keep on hearing things about the cults and religious sects…surely the heads of reikai are suspicious."

Sesshoumaru let out a full blown laugh now. "Reikai are paranoid and suspicious yes, but they are also inept without any true loyalty among their ranks. When Enma is away on business and his son is in his place there are no real standards and far less cohesion amongst the work force."

Yukio thought about this for only a moment before he nodded his head. It was true; there was no use in denying it. "Do you think all will be alright? I am having difficulties picturing the Higurashi family and the other humans adapting- for different reasons of course."

Sesshoumaru scoffed. "This is what was meant to be, besides," his eyes got a satisfied gleam in them and Yukio shivered in anticipation. "I have an ace up my sleeve."

Yukio stood up straighter, craning his head to possibly see around Sesshoumaru and perhaps spot this new weapon. Sesshoumaru chuckled again, holding his hand out and getting a message scroll off of some servant that stood out of view. "I found Jinenji." He said distractedly as he perused the scroll in his hands.

Yukio actually stumbled back, him being a hanyou of the forest and plants he had always heard tales of the fabled demon who aided the miko with wounds and herbs. He supposed his mouth was gaping and his eyes were wide… "_THE_ Jinenji? He's come forth from his solitude?"

Sesshoumaru smirked, one fang being showcased between his lips in a menacing manner before he replied. "I have lived longer than he, and we met once long ago due the miko."

Yukio sat back, his fingers falling to his scroll that he had hidden in his pocket. His eyebrows furrowed and he felt the pinprick behind his brow that told him a headache was forthcoming- but he ignored it. This scroll was very important, and Yukio knew that he needed to deliver it to Kagome to inform her of the happenings.

It detailed some things that she would be very anxious to know.

He had collected the scroll from another of the Eschew, a demon by the name of Shiori, and had been told that only Kagome-sama would be the one to read it. And now he was immensely curious. Jinenji himself had put his signature upon the tie holding the paper together, but he had assumed that the old forest hanyou had only sent a message of advice and suggestions- he was after all, a very nonviolent demon.

But now that Jinenji had emerged from his solitude, it seemed that he would be joining what little battle there would be. The Eschew had taken care to gather together unnoticed on the most part, and start marking the territory they had claimed years previous. It would make for a rather bloodless battle, the only resistance really coming from the demons that refused to be controlled by one of their own race instead of a useless spirit brat.

He supposed they knew that the demons would be able to protect a barrier far easier, which meant less of a chance of escape into the ningenkai to wreck havoc and sooth their bloodlust on the weaker race.

Yukio sighed. "I have not heard much about the territory gathering, how goes it?" he looked up imploringly at the lord, watching him tap his scroll against his leg as if deciding what to do with it.

"Inuyasha has secured the alliance of the shadow demons in the south, something about rescuing their kin from a flood due to some fights up the stream that feeds their village…" Yukio's eyebrows raised, shadow demons were a few of the noble demons left, sticking to themselves and furiously hostile to foreigners. "They helped him secure the south, and the central lands are far too bare for any substantial resistance to our movement." Sesshoumaru paused and gave a considering look to his scroll, his eyes slowly lifting to meet his own. "The wolf demons of the north east have always maintained control of their lands."

Yukio startled. "The wolf demons are part of the Eschew!"

The lord smirked. "Kouga was one of the original, before even this Sesshoumaru. He doesn't refrain from violence, but he does agree that we can all live together peacefully and violence is only for defense and survival."

Yukio braced his arm against a storage shelf, briefly upsetting the packets of powder that was demon food before he gathered his senses and shook of the dizzy sensation of shock and surprise and focused on Sesshoumaru. The wolf demons were a violent lot, but he _did_ now realize that they only fought when threatened or for food, certainly not as violent as indulging in the dark tournament or the like…

"He will have the support of the north, as he feeds and cares for his lands well, and I have the west secured, only having to take out some foolish demons who questioned my authority." Sesshoumaru snorted, and Yukio smiled as he could picture him thinking something along the lines of '_out of sight for a time and they forget their_ _betters…idiots_.' "The east is always full of turmoil, but once the miko settles her station that will be amended."

Yukio shook his head, smiling slightly as he couldn't help but picture his Kagome being the miko so talked about among the Eschew, but he smiled brightly as he remembered her aura, and nodded his head in deference to the lord before he started about breaking the connection.

Sesshoumaru's hand emerged from the liquefied solid silver mass, the scroll gracefully held in his clawed hand. "Give this to the miko."

And the connection was gone.

Yukio gaped at the empty scrying pool, wondering how the lord had known he was going the visit the Higurashi house before he shook his head and chuckled. He had a Higurashi woman to visit, and he could give the miko her scrolls then.

.x.

Souta growled at the group coming up the shrine steps, stepping forward to view the whole of them quickly before they could catch sight of him atop the stairs. And then he ran into the house. He knew his sister was up to something, just as he knew his sister really needed to read that scroll she had gotten. Yukio had handed it to her with another scroll, and Kagome had only the time to read one before she had to hide it from their grandfather.

He thought amusedly of the rather quick action he had almost missed, the scroll disappearing up her sleeve (or so he thought anyway, it's not like he could see it anymore) and his grandfather's confusion and claim that his eyes were failing him…

Souta smirked as he ran up the stairs, abruptly coming to stop before his sister's domain and knocking four times. It was a code from their childhood. Anything less than three knocks only meant normalcy, dragging knuckles across the door was a need for company and advice, and four knocks was the claim of knowledge and offer of aid.

She opened the door and pulled him into the room by the scruff of his shirt.

She was grinning widely, displaying her strong pearly teeth, and Souta found the urge to grin in answer too strong and succumbed to it. He was sure they looked rather maniacal…he shook his head and gestured to the already opened scroll, "The other one and we have company coming."

Her eyes got dazed, as he was getting used to now that she was home and she had that feel about her, as she went into thought and snapped back with a nod.

He continued. "The old shrine misses us, and will grant us the privacy you need to read that other scroll you've been dying to open."

She gave him another smile, far gentler this time. "Thanks are to you. Let's take our leave." She had been trying to get away from everyone for the whole day, at least since she had received the scrolls, but Mama or gramps had always gone up to her asking something or requesting her to do some chore. Souta grinned once more and jetted out to the back door, double checking his path before he led his sister through the house and to the kitchen. It would be _so_ un-cool to have their superiors catch them now.

They mad it out of the house just fine, only having to dodge their grandpapa as he walked out of his room with his face hiding behind a stretched out scroll, his muttering covering the sounds of their giggles and footsteps.

They had to pause once again before they crossed the well swept yard, stilling only to check the stairs and ensure that they had reached their cover in time before they had safely ensconced themselves in the forests that extended the rest of their property.

Not many knew the lands of Higurashi like the children did, not after their father had passed on and the survival and history lessons he had given had ceased. But there was a whole plot of land…forests and even the old village with the old shrine. Most of it was decaying and falling apart- like the well had been. But there was this underlying sense of rightness and spirituality about the place that had always attracted them… well attracted his sister. He had never really understood her desire to stay around the forest, and then she had shown him the shrine and huts and relics and …_wow_.

There was something about the old shrine...the old village that just engulfed you with its emotions and history…and then his sister had started her tales. The village had come alive to him, the everyday life of Sengoku Jidai permeated even the air and ground he walked on- him being half afraid he would bump into some person he _knew_ was not there.

But now that she had come back out of her coma, he had detected something different in her stories. She used to be energetic and playful in her tales, but now it was as if she was trying to impart some wisdom into him, like she was trying to tell him something. And now he knew she could tell him and she knew he would listen. This was after all, _their_ lands.

Even their mother never knew where to find them when they went out…

So he settled on the ground, what used to be a dirt road now overrun by tufts of weed and sparse shoots of grass and tumbled leaves…. The old huts around him were that faded wood grey- fibers of wood were peeling off and the structures tilting precariously to one side or the other as they told of their age and experience. Kagome settled smiling happily at him as she opened the scroll she hadn't touched earlier. Her smile grew wider as she perused the contents, and she laughed slightly before she closed the scroll with an experienced flick of her wrist and tiny grin.

Souta was confused, there was far more to read on that scroll for her to finish it, yet she hadn't bothered to read the rest. "Sis, don't you need…?"

She smiled at he brother and moved closer to him, hugging Souta to her side and resting her weight comfortably and protectively against his body. "How would you like to hear a story ne?" She grinned impishly, wrinkling her nose at him before looking up at the sky. "This one is true I assure you, and I want you to understand okay? No interruptions and just listen for a while."

Souta hid his indignant expression; he always listened, but he sensed there was something behind her words. And he found it hard to associate this playful and mysterious woman with his old sister, and even with the woman who needed to go out shopping…

_He knocked on his sister's door, slightly worried that the noises he heard were harmful to her person and meant she was in another fit…she mysteriously hadn't had another ever since she had awoken, and still Souta sat on edge. He half expected her to all out collapse into the netherworld, leave him alone with his mother and grandfather and the new father figure…_

_But he entered her room to find her rooting through her closet, searching through her shelves, and moving about her knick knacks. She was muttering under her breath; 'This doesn't fit…I don't remember this…I don't like that…These don't fit…O my god, O my god, O my god. Do I fit?'... The woman that spoke this was uncertain and confused. _

_She was nothing like the calm and happy child he remembered, but then he guessed he wasn't the same as he used to be either. He had grown, gaining an interest in soccer – hidden from the judging eyes of his peers – and developing the mental and physical capacity to use tactics and his body to the best of his ability. He had become a teenager comfortable with the way he was, although every once in a while he longed to be the small child that got to be comforted by his family…and then Kagome wanted to be the same she was before she went into her coma._

_Souta's eyes softened as he went to his sister and hugged her, sniffling back his tears because she needed her strong little brother now and it wouldn't do to get her upset. "Kagome, my sister can change with time- I don't expect her to stay the same after four years…you still fit, we just need to get used to everything again. You fit because you are Kagome."_

_She hugged him back and her gaze turned to the window, offering a view of the old grounds and a slight sliver of the sacred tree. "So much has changed…has the village? And have the grounds as well? I can see some of the forest has grown…"_

_Souta grinned. "Oh I'll take you to see that, but first we need to take you shopping."_

So he guessed he couldn't really say that, he just needed to get used to it. And he relaxed under her arm and just listened, something he was very glad he had learned to do a long time ago. And now he was very glad that Kagome was his sister, as her tales seemed to have gotten even more enrapturing…

"This scroll details what's happening in the makai, what those knowledgeable enough about spirits and demons call the demon realm. The makai is mirrored for spirits in the reikai, and ningenkai where we live."

_In his mind he could see it, a giant barrier of pure energy and effort that settled between the dimensions, holding apart the races as best it could…_

"This scroll is telling me that the makai lands are being secured as we speak, the revolution is underway."

Souta startled, easily able to picture groups of strangers – demons now that he listened to his sister's stories and remembered – _as they shouted orders and laughed and gathered and fought over land and territory. Rarely was it that it was a clean political victory. _

_A tall demon with black hair and flashing blue eyes fought in the rain, directing some wolves and canine looking humans to defend a border of some territory Souta couldn't see._

"Now, back in the sengoku jidai era, when this village was new and blossoming with rice and prosperity, humans, miko, houshi, and demon all roamed the lands. It was a constant struggle, survival of the fittest, but there were the few that weren't so few. The silent majority if you will."

_The village was alive, children laughing and running about playing in the fresh streets, huts were just being built, new wood and the smell of sap greeting him as he watched the villagers go about their daily life in wonder. Small little animals darted between passerby's feet, and happily greeted some wicked looking warriors with large weapons strapped to their persons._

"They were all held in check by the noblest demons, and the humblest of miko;" a smile flashed across her face, one of amusement and laughter, "though I shouldn't say that of all, some of them had rather _colorful _personalities."

Souta laughed.

"The miko were held to their duty, protect the people of their village and ensure the health of crops and denizens."

_He could see the white and red robed woman walking down the town's streets, smiling at the children who hailed her happily and respectfully and nodding at the adults who greeted her._

"And then a strange miko appeared one day, changing what all they thought. She was part of that silent majority- but who was she to stay silent? She spoke of honor and loyalty, mercy and compassion, strength and passion. She was what they called the Hiewa no miko…"

_Souta was confused at the blurred images, only getting the gist of a battle and a jewel, some traveling companions that were not of the same race, before the colors blurred and the images sped up to a confusing mass of time and memory._

"…She welcomed all into her fold, and she taught that all could work together for the greater good; a prosperity from mutual coexistence. She learned as she went, discovering a plot to forever separate the land and further widen the rift between the races. It saddened her and the great plan was born. It would come into play centuries later, where the land had put up with the turmoil of the dimensions…"

Souta lost himself in the tale, realizing on some level that it_ was_ the truth, but not bothering to acknowledge it at the moment. How could he when the words she wove woke these pictures in his mind? How could he focus entirely when the tale she told was consuming his imagination and leading him to far away and long ago?

Ad he had the feeling, as she ended her tale and looked at him with that smile and a gleam in her eye, that she was asking him something. So he smiled back and hugged her briefly. "I'm always on your side." And as the story caught up with him… he grinned. "I can't wait to see the faces of the regular ningens…"

And they laughed, letting it ring out along the huts and trees of their lands.

Because some things were just better to laugh about together, and now his sister was at ease. He supposed he could live with the changes that were sure to be wrought, as long as she was happy.

And he smiled and settled, listening to her finish reading the scroll out loud, marveling at the strength of these demons and wondering when the time would come. It would seem that life was going to be more interesting for while, at least until it settled.

That was okay.

_Bring it on._

.x.X.x.

kay! New chapter all done- and I now have the goal of seven reviews a chapter…but knowing my I'll cave and post no matter what. Lol. Hope you enjoy it…oh yeah, I'm going to try putting in random flashbacks…a puzzle if you will. So have fun piecing together the true timeline!


	12. Ponderings

Kurama growled beside him, and Kuwabara found himself saddened that they had to approach the family like this. But Koenma had said jump, and though Kuwabara wasn't actually in debt to the reikai - all his friends were. He would accompany them even though he wanted nothing to do with this mission. And he sighed as he crested the shrine steps wtih his team.

Bring in the girl- Kagome.

He had felt the siblings' energy disappear on the property- and he knew they were still there. He had been able to access Genkai's scrolls, and actually found some pretty interesting things…but one thing had caught his eye. Talk of the true shrines as opposed to the shrines only that in namesake…where power had actually been present along the line of landholders that had occupied the area, and had taken care of the land and its people like no other could… without such power.

He had known that Genkai's shrine grounds weren't that of the holy powers legend told of, and she had briefly remarked about the real holy powers and all that they were frightening and awe inspiring in their reality, if you ever got to experience it and live to tell of it- she had been speaking about one of her friends who had experienced it, herself never being in actual contact with someone of even the diluted lines…

_The scroll was opened cautiously, as it was already crumbling to dust on some edges as it sat in his hand undisturbed. He looked for confirmation from the elderly woman who owned this scroll and the piles upon the shelves, but she only nodded her acceptance and exited the study. She left, leaving him to deal with his questions alone._

_He supposed it was for his own good, to find his own answers meant that he knew them and believed in them. So he sighed and started in on the scroll, briefly having to hold in a breath to avoid the sneeze all the dust was enticing from his lungs._

_But he read it unhindered by the urge, and only had to pause briefly in wonder as a particular sentence caught his eye- surely that couldn't be right? …'The true shrines of this age all have one thing in common, the holy people who study and tend their lives in these places all pool some of their excess power unknowingly in the holy ground at their feet._

_It was not something that was painful or even a conscious move, but rather - as one miko tried to explain to me and I feel that I can finally comprehend, now that I have experienced it for myself – that the excess power that one uses never really dissipates but is absorbed into the land and aids the natural aura and in turn helps those who reside- a bountiful harvest, the instinctual warning one will get from the lands itself, maybe even a passive protector of the power builds long enough and is constant._

_But then that miko told me of something even more difficult to believe._

_The land would take on the personality it accepted form those who passed through and contributed to the holy powers, becoming in a sense a sentient being. I have a little trouble believing this myself, but the miko met disbelief and scathing comments from most of her comrades as well as her enemies and jealous fellow miko- few though that line is becoming to be.'_

_There was a pause in the writing, a water stain with faded ink around its edges telling of the time and hardship the scroll Kuwabara held had gone through. He had never thought that the holy people ever had been doubted or scoffed at- always being depicted as serene accepting creatures of light and purity. He guessed that was the way it went, as demons were always considered the foul beings of night and death though like everything else there were mediums. Good, bad, moral, unjust…present in every race._

_Now Kuwabara unrolled the scroll enough to find the writing continuing its path, but he couldn't help the sigh that escaped him at the seemingly irrelevant information- and decided to read it anyways. _

'_The miko left now, her teachings and ways still following their own path and attracting followers and enemies and scoffers- but I find that I don't really worry about those people. It might seem strange for a devout monk to not worry about those heathens and infidels who are lost from the path divined by the gods- but any who scoff at my miko are truly unworthy of this redemption, and I am not ashamed to admit I look forward to watching the second coming- from the heavens if I so be there. There will be violence and opposition, but she will overcome. Enemies will succumb and scoffers will fall mute; my miko…our miko…The Miko will enthuse her very essence, the true nature of her teachings, in her words and change the world as she speaks of it._

_Her revolution will not be ignored._

_And I find myself strangely vindictive to those who would oppose her teachings, for I know that she really and truly believes her words with every fiber of her being. And it makes me believe as well.'_

_The scroll was signed by Miroku the Wanderer, the steady hand of the kanji giving him the feel that this man truly knew the original miko…but it brought up so many more questions._

Was this one a reincarnation? She knew so much it seemed, maybe her coma had been where her past self had needed to inform her of the power she needed to manipulate and discover? The information and ways that she taught and would need to advocate again must have needed to be passed along. But then he had found this theory plausible, even if he was afraid to voice it to his comrades.

And so he didn't.

He was Kuwabara, the muscle of the group; they would, if only at first, doubt his theory, and right now they needed to work together. Their boss was somehow opposed to their being in contact with the Higurashi clan, and Kuwabara found even with his previous misgivings he wanted to learn of their ways. If only they didn't have to disturb the family so. And here they were at the exact bidding of their boss to gather the Higurashi problem and bring her in for questioning, forcing her into their territory where she would hopefully be put off guard and intimidated into answering their questions. Kuwabara found something intrinsically _wrong_ about this…something in his soul was crying out against this force and manipulation- something telling him that he would be at peace on this land, and that something here would help him any way it could.

So he never voiced his knowledge of the whereabouts of the two siblings- not even when the jiichan and mother gave them honestly clueless looks about the duos whereabouts. He knew they wouldn't know, just as he didn't _really_ know. He only had a vague idea, and when Hiei gave him a daring look that said he knew as well but kept his mouth shut out of some form of respect and gave Kuwabara a nod of acknowledgment the tall red head couldn't help the faint blush of understanding and embarrassment. This, he wasn't doing it to get respect. This was for the siblings.

So he gave a cursory bow of departing salutation to the family as they left, and a brief nod of respect to the much older grounds of the forest as they passed on their way out. The siblings had obviously disappeared to figure something out privately between the two of them- and he found he could respect that.

…

They entered the building Koenma held office in, the tall figure of a well cut businessman towering over them as they passed in the halls, and Kuwabara slightly turned as his senses told him something was off about the man, only Kurama smirked and they continued- no one else noticing or paying attention to what had piqued his interest.

They entered the hall of their 'boss', and had to look briefly around before they heard his muffled mutterings behind a large stack of paper and official documents that they really had no interest in. They sighed as one it seemed, and strode in some scattered formation to the door that would lead them to the inevitable sound of mutterings and paper and whining.

He caught vague phrases, and Kuwabara figured that Koenma would rather not be here as well. Then he brushed by that bodyguard standing by the entrance to their boss's office, and Kuwabara shivered slightly at the image of predatory gold eyes that were behind the shaded glasses, and he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong as easily as he had noticed those two in the halls.

Yusuke ignored the man though, and he pushed the door open violently to enter the usually cluttered and still somehow empty office. It was just so today, but Kuwabara caught the other aura in there just as Yusuke opened his mouth and entered. "We couldn't find her and…who the fuck is that?"

The golden eyes of the demon who was seated before Koenma flashed, a strangely satisfied and predatory look that sent shivers up Kuwabara's spine, before he stood and nodded his head and just, simply, left. Koenma sighed as he spotted their faces- confused and a little irked that the demon could so easily dismiss all of them so simply. "Don't bother getting irate, Sesshoumaru is like that."

Kurama stepped forward, Kuwabara watching him as he glanced out the hall and followed his gaze to spot the bodyguard and the businessmen trailing after the demon they had just encountered. "That is the lord Sesshoumaru? What business did he have with you?"

Koenma rubbed a hand down his face, briefly scrubbing at his weary eyes before he muttered out. "He needed passage to the ningenkai, having some business to take care of with his associate."

Kuwabara nodded as Kurama took in this information- though he had to wonder who in the human world could associate with the lord. He was intimidating to the nines.

.x.X.x.

…

Sesshoumaru took in a deep breath of air once he felt himself walk under the barrier that felt purely of Kagome, and he was pleased to note that her scent and power had permeated the lands she protected and tended. There was something about her scent on the air, the faint spice and soothing floral with the crispness of rainfall that denoted her power that just added to the overall pureness of this area.

Sesshoumaru had always enjoyed her scent after they had become allies, and now that he could feel it so ingrained in one area it was like walking into the past; where demons and humans and hanyou and spirit had one chance they threw away.

The large swept steps up to the actual shrine grounds seemed daunting to the lord, but he recalled watching the miko walk for hours upon hours with only a meager breakfast to fuel her…and the driving desire to prove her worth and her ways. He could only smirks lightly as he pictured her making her way happily up theses stairs…but then his eyes softened and he wondered if it weren't so happy a trip up the stairs for her. After all, she would walk up these concrete paths alone.

No more…

He shook his head, silver hair brushing along the dark blue of his suit jacket as he started up. He could still picture his friend, but now her eyes were lit with that wisdom she had gained in her travels, started far before she had even met him or his brother…a far time before that. And he breathed in the air and again noted the pure scent- a blatant testament to her power over theses lands- the power that had been in her family for generations.

The faint trace of sentient awareness that flowed over his body startled him at first, but he let out a bark of laughter when it seemed to recognize him and moved about swiftly and jarringly in joy. It would seem that Kagome had been right about the barriers the holy people set in place, Sesshoumaru having a hard time admitting that he had been wrong to doubt the miko so long ago. His head shook again, and he was still chuckling to himself when he mounted the top steps, coming directly in view of a smiling miko.

Her smile grew wider when his eyebrows rose and then one lowered. "I knew you'd come." She giggled, and Sesshoumaru wished his skin wasn't so pale so that his sheepish blush was hidden better- but ah, that was Kagome for you. Gods, he hated being predictable. He schooled his features again, looking the miko once over and deciding that she definitely came from this time- although he had rather fond memories of a daring and fiery miko with strange clothes and even stranger ideas coming to visit his time…. The softer cloth of this time seemed so much more suited for her than the harsh weaves of her miko outfit in the past, and he found that he rather liked her in colors other than the damming red and white that she had hated so.

An old man approached, wary and suspicious and alarmingly reaching into his haori to the crinkling of paper that told Sesshoumaru of wards and with the sizzle of energy that told Sesshoumaru of power. His scent was of the earth after a summer storming rain, and Sesshoumaru sighed and straightened up as he eyed the man, related to his miko. "The healer Higurashi, it is a pleasure to finally meet you." The old man was stunned into stillness as the demon slightly bowed his head in acknowledgement and Sesshoumaru took the opportunity to whisk the miko further onto the grounds, feeling the very earth react to her amusement and the barrier waver worriedly about in amused chariness.

The miko herself sported the amused smile that seemed to personify the barriers emotions, and Sesshoumaru sighed before taking a deep breath. Coconut…the smell was entwined with hers just as the scent of her power was, and Sesshoumaru smirked as he caught it. It was the sign of her acceptance of his protection- a sign that whoever harmed her or pursued her death would have to answer to him. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and found her observing him and smiling that soft smile with that little chuckle and that look in her eyes. "Pray tell, little miko, what you find so humorous?"

The smile changed to that one, her eyes shifting with a now somber light that made them seem like the deepest depths of the ocean with only the faint light of her honesty to guide his way. There was no chuckle. "I have missed you- despite it being naught a full moon for me."

And Sesshoumaru softened. He had known that she was always close to the people she met, surprising him when they encountered old foes and even defeated enemies who looked up to the miko in respect and friendship and soon followed her path- drawn by her light and the promise it held. But he had also found that the miko was alone; her power and ways were renown for the simple fact that she left none bereft of her love and grin, but there was always the simple smile that would light her face at sunset, when all who yearned for her to light their path had left her and she had no one else to look out for or turn to. She had always been deserted at the end of the day. And even as he had watched her friends join her, as _he_ had joined her, a part of the traveling companions she had embraced for so many years, she had _looked_ alone.

He sighed and was about to speak but then her brother - so obviously her brother by blood – came out with a suspicious but not unwelcoming look. He never understood how Kagome had accomplished that face, and here he was looking at a child who _must _have learned it from her. There was no other way Sesshoumaru could have felt that it was the miko – younger and happier than he had ever seen her – staring out at him from that face…except for those eyes. They were eyes not as wise as her bluer orbs, and he found he could smile.

This was why she lived.

He bowed his head slightly in deference, and he found himself again surprised; but by the deference the boy showed in return, remembering days where he had to work hard to earn respect - but not friendship - from the very miko he now stood beside. He shook his head at the simplicity of it all. "I take it that you are the Souta? You are the one of whom Kagome spoke during her journey." The boy flushed, as if unsure whether the tall imposing man in front of him meant that as a compliment or a curse. But still the boy shifted closer to his sister, belying his true thoughts and feelings. He would feel guilty for taking her attention away from something important, but he wouldn't feel guilty for having her attention on him. Sesshoumaru nodded as he observed this in silence, noting the unconscious way in which Kagome shifted to draw her sibling in closer to her. And he couldn't help but smile at the bond so obviously there, he could see it. Whether it was from the way they physically drew closer to one another for comfort and reassurance, or maybe it was the way the younger so mimicked his older sibling…or maybe it was the way that he could see in their eyes the same gift of welcome…he could just _see_ it.

"This is Higurashi Souta, younger brother and sometimes holy terror of my days." The boy flushed deeply, but the strange manic and sheepish grin that spread across his face endeared the lord to the boy no less. He reminded him so much of the younger more mischievous Kagome that he couldn't help but let his eyes light with amusement as he gave a look to the miko. It would seem that all the stunts she had pulled had not entirely been from the influence of the monk and the kit.

She grinned up at him as well, almost a perfect mirror of her brother and Sesshoumaru turned to hide the smile, taking in the lands that echoed of the sibling's presence and regarded him with a wary welcome- something he was sure it had absorbed from the siblings. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back to inhale the scent of his company and the land, and found himself oddly pleased – once again – of his mark on the female.

_He _had been one to recognize her might; he had been one to help her on her paths; he had been one to protect her from dangers she knew not about at the time; and he had been one whom she had accepted into her pack and one whom would help her in her revolution. He paused and just watched her, the silence comforting in all its heavy ambiguity and the faint sounds of life on this shrine penetrating the perfect little world these two seemed to exude. And it made it all the more perfectly real.

Memories hadn't softened for the demon lord, but time had painted them in a far more favorable light as he relived the glorious moments of the heiwa no miko, being in her scent just seemed to add a reassuring light of reality to it all. She _was_ here.

He took in a deep breath, and then his perusal of their grounds alighted on the female that Yukio was courting.

.x.

.x.X.x.

HA! Shippou…or did you guys not catch the gathering demons from Sengoku jidai? Er…I hate to sound pathetic but would you people mind reading and reviewing my other fics…heheh. I realized that future fics usually have Sesshoumaru…I'm sorry for the cliché bit. Sigh.

And to ichikokitsunekoumori- I have said before that spiritual awareness can be …awoken…in the presence of those that are spiritually aware, and that all humans have this ability but not in use. It goes to say that without the barrier humans will develop their senses to more acuity- just not to the extent those that woke up without stimuli did (because HEY that's why they're strong! Their powers came forth because it needed to not due to outside stimuli!) But you really confused me; your whole review seemed like a rant against my entire plot device. And then boom! You requested a pairing…? Anyway, I know the humans won't do anything _I _don't want them to because it is my story, my fiction, my suspension of reality- so as rude as this sounds I can do whatever I want and you'll have to put up with it. And who says there won't be a rebellion?


	13. Coming Together

MERRY CHRISTMAS!  
.

.x.x.X.x.x.

Souta looked up sheepishly to his mother, followed closely by the now recovered grandfather he had passed on his way to his sister. She had her eyes narrowed as she regarded the man his sister had greeted, and Souta paused to look at the man as his mother would- or as he thought she would anyway. He was a tall man who was obviously high up in the business world, judging by the cut and shape of his outfit and the gleam of his leather briefcase and shoes. Impossibly long silver hair that grew below the shoulders, on the edge of style but somehow adding so much character to this one man, like one of the gods stepping out of the prints on the scrolls.

Souta shook his head at the suddenly double image, turning to his sister in surprise as she brushed her hand along the back of his arm and smirked. His eyes widened and his brows lowered, she had done that on purpose. Her smirk widened. Souta could barely fight the grin that came from her playing with him; showing him what she saw and what it really was; twisting his reality and making him want to smile all the more, because that was what she taught.

Nothing was set in place…everything changes…and boy did his image of this 'businessman' change!

His snicker was abruptly cut off when his mother sent him a sharp look of exasperation and ire, and he stiffened and turned his gaze off to the Goshinboku. "What exactly is going on here?" _'How come mothers get that really intimidating imperial voice in the first place?'_

Kagome looked happily at their elders, smiling at the spluttering grandfather as he stared at the demon and his granddaughter with no little exasperation. He was muttering something about hanyou and now full demons…

Souta smirked unabashedly this time.

"Mother, this is Sesshoumaru." The demon gave her a sharp amused look, one eyebrow raised and Kagome smiled mischievously in response. She turned to the forest grounds and tapped her foot once as she contemplated something before she turned to face them all equally. Her smile told them she was going to say nothing more and Souta wondered at the faint crease that lined her brow- was it amusement or worry? He had never seen that particular face before.

"Where did you meet this man, Kagome?" His sister shifted and looked at their mother with a blinking expression of gullible innocence; their mother wasn't amused. "Kagome." It was said with warning and a look to him. Souta cringed inwardly as he realized what exactly had set his mother off- himself.

He had grown up with only his sister for company- and his sister had been the one to encourage him to try new things and meet people and follow his dreams… But regardless of his dreams, he had been alone and slightly antisocial. He could recall many a day his mother had taken him somewhere and he had proved to be sullen and wary of any and all strangers they met. He was just like that.

So he sighed and settled to watch his mother piece together a puzzle that really didn't have a complete picture to work from. There were too many oddities happening now that Kagome was back, he knew his family wasn't stupid. They would realize that something bigger than what they could see was going on.

The man stepped forward to address her with a little bow of his head, silver hair escaping from the fine ponytail at the nape of his neck. "I know your daughter very well Higurashi-san, she is famous amongst my people."

Souta blanched, pieces whirring together in his own head.

"Your people?"

"Sa, Yukio is one of mine, lady bright." The old endearment shook him out of his stupor, just as he turned his head to spot Yukio himself coming out of their shrine home with a cautious but still open look. So he really _did_ know this man.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, you have come to greet already?"

"The message we sent the miko alerted Reikai too early, Enma is getting paranoid."

"Pardon?"

Sesshoumaru regarded their grandfather with an amused nonchalance that oddly enough didn't send him ranting about respecting your elders and herbs and ofudas… "Your girl child," a scoff from Kagome and a quirky smile from Yukio, "has aided many where I hail from, and we are returning her debt and fulfilling our promise to her."

The woman blanched, "That dead body was your doing!"

Yukio winced and stepped up to place a hand upon her shoulder. "It had to be that body luv, it holds a specific meaning."

Souta blanched again. All too well remembering the slightly rancid smell of the young body as it decayed and then turned to ash at his sister's touch. He grimaced and then shook his head as it brought something far more pertinent to the forefront of his mind. "Wait! You're the Heiwa no Miko!"

His sister gave him a bright, wide eyed look before she burst out into giggles, hiding them behind her hands as Yukio snorted. "She's a very good one at that."

Sesshoumaru scoffed lightly in reply and crossed his arms over his chest. "She's the _only_ Heiwa no miko- there is no comparison."

The conversation became a steady murmur between his mother and the strange businessman, with a few comments thrown in by Yukio that only seemed to emphasis the fact that this strange and sudden reality was…well _reality_. Souta watched from under the safe ensconce of his sister's arms, and he listened as the four debated and talked with a quiet irritation that meant they all believed in something and were having trouble getting their points across.

_Strangers in my shrine?...Heiwa no miko?...What's this about a demon realm?...my Kagome?...barriers…warriors…demons…turmoil of the land?... ancestors…_

But the debate dwindled slightly, Souta recognizing the gradual sloping of his mother's shoulders as she threw up her hands in defeat, and noticing the irritated snort his grandfather gave when he had to concede a point.

There_ was _something special going on- and they all knew it

Yukio guided their mother into the house with a smile, grinning back at them as he called for grandfather to follow him because he had something to do with an old legend in the house…

Souta was gently pushed to the other side of the grounds, a silent request for him to leave, and he did so hesitantly. It was enough for him to catch the beginnings of a question. "What brought you…" and then nothing.

.x.

Sesshoumaru regarded the miko after his question, for it seemed to have taken hold of her very soul and was drawing it out of her eyes- they were glowing.

"At first my mind made up some silly but grand story; of time travel and magic and love and tragedy and crazy medical excuses from an equally crazy jiichan; a very accepting mother, gullible friends and everything else to go with it. The perfect fairytale- except mine had no little brother. Souta called to me; there was no way any fabricated story could get his personality and unique energy right enough that my mind would accept it. We were just too close." She smiled faintly, her eyes half lidded with the fond memory and Sesshoumaru had to wonder how the dual reality of her four year projection had changed her for this realm. Surely her family recognized these differences- other than the ones her mother so obviously pointed out. "That's why I came back." Sesshoumaru heard it, and he heard what she was saying even as she didn't say it; _It's why I came back despite the fact that I am different than what I was, despite the danger of being repudiated and thrown away because I was strange once gain, I came back because my brother was _here_…_

Sesshoumaru smiled, nodding briefly as he turned to walk away and whistled. There was something about this miko that always … _Sesshoumaru walked down the forest pathways, paying attention to the scent of the forest, particularly to the scent of disturbed forest- broken pine needles, crushed leaves and the revealed moist and clingy scent of soil. Kagome had taken a walk away from the group with her kit, enjoying a reprieve from watching herself and her manners around a group who expected her to be their miko- at a time where she couldn't be their friend._

_He found the pair he was searching out, laughing and smiling and giggling- the innocent light to her giving him pause enough to watch her brilliantly lit eyes as she played a game with her son. Then she paused briefly, her head slowly tilting up to face the sky, and then snapping to one direction- the well._

_A soft smile lit her features, and she picked up her rapidly tiring fox son and cradled him to her heart as the smile blossomed and the hearty chuckle she let out sang as she spun on her bare feet in the dewing grasses._

_Sesshoumaru shook his head as he stepped out of the foliage, breaking his cover, and she turned that smile to him. "You are lost in thought."_

_She had the brief mischievous smirk cross her features, her eyes shifting to the slitted trickery of her son before she sobered. "I am there still. My brother is talking to me." Sesshoumaru had thought she was dreaming whilst awake, and said nothing of it; only taking note of the wistful and fond way she spoke of her younger brother, and wishing he could say the same of his. She had turned those wise eyes to him, stunning him once again into inaction, his blood seeming to freeze in the profoundness of that knowledge in one so young- natures little miracle. "You and yours have been misguided; those around you have put undue pressure on you and caused you such turmoil." _

_She shifted her son and reached out her free hand, caressing his striped cheek as her smile became that loving and natural look she wore when she knew exactly what she was speaking of. "You are far too wise for one so young, my lady."_

_She laughed, that little bubbling chuckle, as she drew her hand away and winked cheekily up at him. "I love being unique!" And she had laughed and sprinted like the doe back to camp, her legs carrying her silently and her bare feet merely caressing the forest moss and stones on her way. It was her way of telling him that it would all be alright, and he found he could live with it if she believed it so._

_And so Sesshoumaru smiled and nodded and left. _And so Sesshoumaru smiled and nodded and left.

.x.

Souta craned his neck out uncomfortably, trying to be inconspicuous as he intently extended his own senses to hear his sister respond to that tall man. The man smiled and bowed, which his sister returned, before he moved with a shift of his stiff suit and limber legs and left. Just like that. Souta gaped openly after the man, face turning slowly and jerkily to face his sister even as he kept his eyes trained on the cutting figure of the silver haired businessman.

She laughed as she came up beside him. "Sesshoumaru is like that, a lordly type you know," she smiled as she shared some faint amusement with herself, "he finished what needs to be done and accomplishes nothing more or less."

So Souta shrugged it off and grinned sheepishly, quickly letting the rather demonic mischievous look overtake that as he tackled his surprised sister to the ground and initiated an all out tickle war.

.x.

Sesshoumaru looked up from his paperwork, silver hair sliding to the sides of his face before he pushed it behind his ears. He settled his elbows upon his desk, taking the time to neatly stack his work before putting it off to the side, and settled his chin amongst his woven fingers. He distractedly blew out a breath upwards, feeling the fluttering of his bangs against his forehead. "How go the relations with the Shadow demons?" Perfect timing- as usual.

His brother flung open the shoji door.

"Sesshoumaru," he growled out, a fang being displayed with his snarling upper lip. "You should know that it has been settled for while now, you should really check on the damn flea bitten wolf!" Sesshoumaru need not hide the smirk behind his hands, for he knew his brother could easily spot the amusement in his eyes, now that they had actually become something one could call brothers. His eyes saddened with a distant light as he thought briefly of the strong sibling bond between the Higurashi. Inuyasha must have noticed it, for he calmed down visibly and spoke in a much calmer note. "I want to know how she is doing."

Sesshoumaru shifted, pushing back his chair with the flat of his feet before he stood- the fluid movement displaying none of his turmoil or desire for mischief. He would have to settle for showing neither. "You know how she is."

Inuyasha growled slightly and Sesshoumaru could only sympathize with this expression. It was a sound of frustration about the past and a miko- one who had expressed dreams like they were possible and one who had been a conflict in herself; always cared of another's reactions to her rather unorthodox life and worrying over what would happen if this didn't work out- funny how she could reassure everyone but herself.

_Sesshoumaru looked to the miko, taking in the way that once again she was alone- with her little sleeping fox kit in her lap. She was kicking her feet since they didn't touch the ground from the size of the log she had seated herself upon, and Sesshoumaru held in his smile at the cute scene it made- Sesshoumaru did not use the word cute._

_She turned her face to him as he approached, and he wondered exactly how her senses had developed so oddly. No one else could sense him like she. Her eyes smiled and she patted the log beside her as a welcoming invitation- one which he took._

_She had come out here after talking to their wandering monk, talking to the monk only after she had been ridiculed by some of the company they had been in when they encountered the odd barrier._

"_You are developing oddly miko." There was a brief flash in her eyes, for the title she loathed or the sentence he proclaimed he knew not which. But by the way she was gathering herself into her story telling position he knew she would somehow explain._

_Her mouth opened as her eyes closed, some sort of bargain going on in her mind as she decided what she would tell and what he would need to learn. "Where I come from we all go to school as littles, learning as uniformly as we can and we have the stereotypes to go with it."_ _She gave him a telling look and he found he could understand that- she wanted him to think of the racism against his brother. "We are branded there and that is where we shape our destinies- at least the ones_ normal_ society provides for us." An odd wistful and somewhat amused smile came over her face._

"_Before I came here I missed out a lot on school- '_odd spells' _keeping me from my natural awareness of the world and making it nay impossible to actually teach me when it occurred." She scuffed her pointed toe as it barely reached the ground, shuffling leaves with the stretched appendage. And she smiled again. "I wasn't normal you see. People took to calling me 'the odd Higurashi girl'. And my family was branded as 'that Higurashi family'; we were viewed as some sort of freaks as you can infer, and I had grown up being looked at like that."_

_Sesshoumaru tilted his head more to watch the miko's face as she looked down; and he found the happy expression startling in its simple truth. "Those odd spells were my powers coming through to me- and though I wasn't aware in their physical world I was so much more alive somewhere else!" She practically lit the night air with her smile, and no one else was around to see it. Sesshoumaru had never seen anyone else approach her after the sun set and the moon was high and he found that they were missing out on_ _the real essence of the miko of peace. _

_And she continued stroking the hair away from her sons face and her smile softened. "I have been odd all my life Sesshoumaru-sama." The honorific drew his attention to her once again. "And you want to know something?" She turned her face to him again, the smile much softer and somehow more telling than any that had ever crossed the expressive woman's face. "I like being who I am."_

_Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, looking at the miko askance and showing her what he thought of that proclamation. There were always the villagers that looked at her oddly, she wasn't exactly cut out for this style of living, she worried too much for her comrades health, she even worried for their lives outside of war and the quest…there was no way any one else would tell him they enjoyed that life. It was a life where she was judged and measured against the stereotype miko in every village and against every demon. "Surely you aren't happy with it all the time- people don't like to stand out; it makes it harder to survive."_

_And that was true- the need to fit in was so you wouldn't be singled out for abuse. One would do anything to survive- even give up their dreams and personality. He should know. And here the miko was telling him that she liked standing out, that there was nothing wrong with being unique in every single little nuance of her being._

_She sighed and shook her head in amused acknowledgment, and then she looked back at him with a wink. "It's the rest of the world that needs to realize it."_

_And when she cuddled up her pup and walked slowly back to camp so she wouldn't jostle the kit awake, he found he had heard something entirely different in that conversation._

'_I was not accepted as I was, I was considered the odd one out and I was teased and tormented for who I was and what I could do and what happened to me…I fear that they do not understand me but that is okay…I understand them._

'_But on some level it is not okay, because I scare them, I see that in every move they make. As much as I dream of peace and acceptance it will be a hard road to follow.'_

_And Sesshoumaru found he had a new respect for that miko, for her words weren't the petty wrapping of hypocrisy and deceit. She truly believed that she would accomplish her dreams, and it wasn't the easy way out for her. Fighting wasn't the hard way; he could see that when she spoke she believed that working to live together and hammer out their differences is the hardest path, the one she chose._

_He respected that, because in some way he had always thought she could not stomach fighting, that she was searching for the easy way out…but she wasn't. She would overcome battle if it was needed, but she knew that it was in our nature to fight and incite torment in each other-_ that_ was the easy path, the coward's path. She would forever walk her own path, and even thought she met resistance she would persevere and push on; leaving her mark in those she left behind._

_She_ would_ persevere._

_Now if only she could come to terms with those she had to leave behind- those who did not understand and merely scoffed at her dreams and aspirations. And Sesshoumaru found that the petty arguments and scoffers over her simple statement about the barrier mattered not at the moment, because Kagome would overcome. _This_ was her battle field._

Sesshoumaru sighed and braced his head on his hands as he watched his brother. The little miko was always worrying about how other people viewed her even as some part of her didn't care- her dreams fueled her ways and none could stomp on the wings those dreams gave her. But there was the reminder that wings could become frail and break, arrows could reach her, and blood and death would greet whoever met_ its _path.

"Yeah I know how she is that's why I want to know if she's okay!"

Sesshoumaru sighed as he regarded his brother more seriously; he knew what the strange light in his brother's eyes was, because he could look in the mirror and see it in his own eyes as well. That was the look of a brother worried over his sister, looking for some form of encouragement, some form of confirmation that she was or would be all right.

So he nodded and gave in; "You do remember the barrier talks? She will be fine." And he got up and stacked his papers to one side and left the room- it was far more educational for his brother to come to his own conclusions.

.x.

Inuyasha was left in the study by himself, eyes blank but eyebrows up as he looked at the his brother's back as he walked away. He was, after all, used to his brother pulling that stunt on him.

Now; "Barrier…a barrier? Oh… right. Keh, stupid little chit always did bounce back from everything." The smile that touched his face was one of fond memories, the usual fiery amber of his eyes softening to something kin to his brother's gold as he shook his head in affectionate exasperation and turned quietly to leave the room.

There was a quiet that surrounded everything and everyone he encountered, but Inuyasha didn't mind the unusual quiet despite his loud personality. There was something in this quiet, it was anticipation, and he was anticipating with weighted silence just as much as everyone else, it would begin, and they would finally get to see their miko after so many centuries…and she would be strong and smiling.

Yep, he didn't mind at all.

.x.X.x.

And so it comes together, pieces falling into place anyone? Lol, I am soooo enjoying this! Oh, and hoping for at least TEN reviews this chapter! So please indulge me! And does anyone have requests for the random flashbacks? I got stuck on one and figured that wasn't good enough to disrupt the flow of the story with.

REVIEW! I realized that I have a lot of alerts for this story, and very few of you bother to review- reviews are _veeery _nice to receive. I know I should be happy that so many put me on alert, but reviews are much more personalized and lead to much more gratification than me simply checking out my story's stats. So please?


	14. The Ningen Eschew

Souta was happily walking beside his sister, sure that he looked rather ridiculous with his proud expression and jaunty step. But he couldn't help it. His sister had asked him to accompany him to get some of their fighters from this realm, saying that she hoped they would recognize her and that the code hadn't been forgotten.

But he didn't really understand where they were going – only something about the ningen Eschew and human politics – but he would follow his sister and support her back wherever she went. Even if he was so confused that all he could focus on was the heady feeling of pride and accomplishment, and said back.

His sister always had a knack for making him feel like that. One good proud look from her made him literally walk on air- at least an inch above the ground. It was her power he knew. Whenever he felt a strong connection to his sister he could connect to her power like it was his own- at least almost as easily as it was his own, he wouldn't know how to use his own power even if it was vast enough for him to do so. He sighed and walked quicker to loop his arm through his sisters, marveling that she was _his._

She gave him another of those smiles and he beamed as that little power current lifted his feet a bit; she could work her magic, and he would protect her back the old fashioned way: with fists and muscle. He had never even known that their shrine had the old powers still in use, and as a result had only been interested in his soccer and schooling. As a result he was a jock, a rather smart jock, but still a jock. He didn't have the true sensitivity needed to be aware of his spiritual surroundings.

He_ would _still guard her back.

They walked up to the prefecture like this, steps slowing and backs straightening at the increasing feel of turmoil and spiritual despair that slowly teased them and cloyingly embraced their – or more rather _her_ – other senses.

She entered the streets first, Souta performing a little skip to dodge a particularly nasty feeling wisp of that energy as he went in after her. The very air _designated_ this as a different place; the crispness of lacking spirituality engulfed him and almost drowned him as he used his sister's senses, and she glanced back at him in worry before his connection was rather abruptly cut off. He shivered as he could still feel it with his far inferior senses, and he walked closer to her back

The people on the streets were obviously close to each other and wary of outsiders. _'Namely us,'_ Souta thought with a shiver at one particular glare he got from a wizened old man. The hair on his neck stood on end, his hand going up to rub it back down and he shuffled a bit quicker and barely touched his sister's hand with his own with the swinging pass of her arm. Her hand briefly caught his hand, squeezing his fingers in reassurance before she straightened her back and threw her braid over her shoulder.

It was time to get down to business- whatever it was.

"I seek the road I left long past; wouldst thou show me that path I set for myself which I come now to follow?" There was a ripple through the crowd, until an old man, the same man who had glared at them upon entering this little section of town, sneered and spat at the cement near their feet. The crowd seemed to murmur in agreement and rudely twisted their backs to them, returning to what they had been doing previous.

His sister simply chuckled lightly, her face one of somber humor before she continued walking, eyes darkening in something of anger and shock as their footsteps carried them through streets and a town center. That was where she stopped, looking around; and that was where she released her awareness on a greater scale. Souta shivered, now in slight delirium and joy, as her intoxicating power rushed along his senses and _in _his senses through the bond they shared. And he watched her start to frown and even recoil as she felt something she didn't like, not at all.

Her scream split through the air.

There were tears coursing down her cheeks, Souta could see them clearly when she spun around- even though he had fallen to the ground at the shock of what she'd just done. He'd never seen her break like that.

The previously rude and chary neighbors came to the little park, gathering around warily as they looked at the odd woman who had invaded their normally peaceful life. Souta shook his head to clear it of the cobwebs the scream had disturbed into falling on his thoughts, and he stood up shakily as he dusted himself off. The villagers were peering oddly at his sister, and she spun around to face them, Souta feeling the jolt of her senses being used on every one of them rapidly in succession causing his head to spin once again. He found he was being supported by another boy his age, only getting the subtle feel of masculinity and energy before he focused with his supporter on his oneechan.

"You," her breath hissed out the word as she seemed to address the whole gathered crowd and focus on none, some still coming drawn by their curiosity and worry. "You have denied your ancestors and caused turmoil in these lands!" Her voice resonated strangely through the air, and Souta found he was stiffening to attention along with everyone else in the clearing- even though he was used to his sister voice in all its mediums and the reprimand wasn't even directed at him. She fisted her hands at her sides, shoulders stiffening in her ire and grief - something so palpable to Souta he wondered why he didn't fall to his knees - but no, he had the support of the teen beside him.

She shook her head and pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, shoulders shivering with her emotions as the crowd stayed hushed and almost terrifyingly awed. She looked up, "I came to find how my friends had fared in their dreams- to help those who sought the teachings of the Heiwa no miko. They wanted to build a clan of warriors- who knew of the spiritual side of the turmoil and clung to the belief that one day they would see the revolution." Her face scrunched into one of disgust and shock as her eyes widened impossibly and the blue seemed to drown out the black pupil. "They would accept all into their fold, teaching of the true ways that would support all ways…and here I find turmoil!

"The land is crying and the spirits are ill! There is no power in the land and the people have become _willfully_ ignorant!" The crowd had equal looks of shock and disbelief, ranged in between the awe and enlightenment that was slowly gracing their features. The shame was no little for Souta to spot on some faces, but on others there was something completely off…

"The Heiwa no miko, she is here," came the excited whisper from the boy beside him, and he had the disjointed thought that he really had no clue what the Heiwa no miko meant- at least not what it really meant to those who _knew_ the legend. And then he had the rather disturbing question of those demons who actually lived with his sister as the Heiwa no Miko, what exactly did she mean to _them_?

…

Souta walked beside the boy rather petulantly, finding that following his sister was much more fun _without _another person along for the ride. The boy chattered away without any 'by your leave' and Souta was moping (yes he was) and kicking his feet about on the ground because his sister was seemingly ignoring _both_ of them. Kagome finally stopped; face turning and braid shifting with the most sound she had made the whole time they had been walking after the incident at the center.

"That building…"

Souta looked as well, finding Shikato turning and robbing his nose sheepishly. "That has been in disarray for centuries, everyone's forgotten who used to live there." He paused, finger kept in stunned inaction by his nose as Kagome took solid steps to the building with a gleam in her eye. "We've been waiting for it to crumble! I don't think it's safe for you to go in there!"

Souta deadpanned, _'They won't accept any outside help to take down the building, a bunch of idiots.'_ He shook his head and he watched his sister continue, holding out an arm across Shikato's chest as he made a move to stop her. The teen looked at him in incensed fury and shock, and he simply smirked. "You don't know my sister. She needs to do this so she shall." _'Oh, there he went talking like his sister again.'_ He sighed and shook his head, tensing the muscles in his arm to push the boy back a bit.

Shikato complied with his heavier bulk, sulkily sending him an odd look before he watched the entrance of the house worriedly. Suddenly there was a shouted exclamation, and both turned to watch his sister run out of the house with this little skip in her pace and a brilliant smile lighting her face. Souta chuckled through his surprise- she tended to do that.

Her face turned curiously joyful as she slowed and turned back to the house coaxingly, her hand stretching out enticingly to whatever she had found. She smiled encouragingly, and Souta found memories of when he had been learning to climb trees and had to be coaxed by his sister out of a position he both feared to stay in and feared to leave- she had done this then as well.

And then he found himself looking up from the ground once again, this time though he was not alone in this predicament.

He could only gape and feel his eyes widen with shock and then dry at the wind all this power created. Neighbors were once again gathering to see what his sister was doing, this time they were fighting the wind and supernatural forces that were rushing from the epicenter in the building his sister had rejoiced over.

Her joyful shouts and running laughs seemed to be the only thing audible above the wind- and he focused on that and maybe the bond they shared so he could get a footing on the situation as well. He shielded his eyes with his hand, and found he could ignore Shikato as he used his supporting arm to pull himself up from the ground against the force of the wind and spiritual powers.

"**WHAT is that!**?" The shout was almost smothered with the forces at work, and Souta had to wonder if they had abandoned all their religious teachings. Shikato had told them that there had been turmoil and spiritual anarchy over the years, but that he had believed in the old tales- maybe he hadn't read through them closely enough if he didn't know what this was.

He fought the wind in his eyes to look at the teen, wondering _really_ what he knew of the legends and the revolution. He had told them that he was basically the only one considered crazy enough to believe now, but that didn't mean he knew _what_ to believe. "**That's the spiritual power that's built up in your ignorance!**" he shouted back, glad that the wind worked with him for that moment and threw the words in the teens face. And glad doubly so that it cowed the teen slightly before the anger and determination flared right back up.

At least he had got _one_ insult over the strange teen.

He ignored the gaping expression as the wind calmed suddenly, the silence that greeted all making his ears hurt. He didn't need to look around at the stupefied expression on everyone's faces, he could already feel their awe and fear pressing in around him with his _own_ powers at the max and guided by so many spirits and his sister being so near.

The colorful breezes swept past the wary neighbors, and Souta watched with some grim satisfaction as spirit and power tormented the people gently, chastising them for giving up and abandoning what their ancestors had gently coveted.

Kagome's laughter rang out again, echoing strangely because the spirits were repeating it amongst each other. The power had been drawn to her and the colors and wind was circling her like it was her own- but he knew it wasn't. Her power didn't really have a color, he had seen it only once; a thin wisp of awareness she had sent out when he had surprised her while she was meditating.

Souta had many encounters with his sister while she went off into one of her dazes, when they were younger she was always being pulled into visions that left her body defenseless and her eyes dead as her head lolled uselessly on her weak neck to rest on her shoulder.

It was always frightening for him to find his sister like this, she looked exactly like those lifeless porcelain dolls that she had been so afraid of when she was little- Souta briefly remembered an explanation of their biological father presenting her with one that fell and broke and scared Kagome so much that it haunted her until she was ten. He had never gotten the full details, realizing that there was something more to the story that made his mother uneasy but never getting the courage to ask.

And her seizures now were controlled by her daily meditations, not always at the designated time. But her clear and shining power wasn't the one at work here, and he searched for it with familiar eyes and found it wrapping around him- with much shock. He had known that he had a connection with his sister, but he had never guessed it was her soul wrapping around him and e_ntwining_ with his own.

The powers swirling around had let him see this connection, guiding his spirit with its minimal awareness to its fullest extent. He wondered exactly what was happening to all these people who had ignored their powers, what sort of jolt were they feeling to suddenly have it thrust upon them and guided to show them their ignorance?

The powers settled down, his sight watching colors infuse into the earth and buildings and people- and strangely enough everything seemed to much more rich and vibrant. He swore up and down that it was impossible, but then he settled and just sighed, catching the attention of Shikato as he glanced about in confusion and examine his own hands with disbelief.

"Heiwa no miko, damn she's good."

Shikato blinked and made some frenzied movement in his peripheral vision, but he ignored it as Kagome smiled and walked up and placed her hand on his shoulder- on _his_ shoulder.

"We are almost done here, are you certain you are not getting bored?" Souta grinned and placed his hands behind his head, "Lead the way, sister. I'm behind you." Their blonde, self appointed guide trailed after them somewhat helplessly, and Kagome approached a very intimidating figure. The man tried to scowl, but his face kept on returning to a blankly astonished expression that had his pupils dilating in confusion.

Souta snickered.

That seemed to snap him out of his stupor. He glared slightly at him, and he replied with a devious look before he smiled innocently, and then the stranger turned to Kagome with a shaky superior face. "Now see here young lady, you should stop disrupting the peace."

And Kagome smiled.

Now this was a different smile. Her eyes crinkled slightly and shined even with the little light reaching through, her teeth were not bared in joy and that dimple on her cheek didn't come out. This was a smile of indulgence, and the man sputtered to a stop and stared. "You come from the line of Nobunaga don't you?"

And Souta laughed outright.

Shikato chuckled, weakly, beside him.

She clapped her hands and nodded firmly at her own statement, perhaps daring anyone to disagree. Souta settled his weight from leg to leg as he crossed his arms over his chest, looking around and trying to find anyone who had blatantly offensive looks on their faces- but there were none. If anything they looked like a bunch of schoolchildren being scolded for forgetting the day's lesson.

'_Or a bunch of heathens who forgot the ways of their ancestors…'_

The earth around them seemed to hum along his senses, and he ignored the flabbergasted and embarrassed looks of the people around them in favor of closing his eyes and focusing- it was such a heady rush when the _earth_ welcomed you like it did the Higurashi.

He had never been connected until his sister had introduced them, and even then he guessed she was connected in a way that he could never even dream of…well he could, but he supposed he would never get close enough to the truth.

"I need you, as leader of this prefecture, to contact the rest of the ningen Eschew, the time has come- and maybe it has come too soon." He looked up distractedly to see the curiously benign face of his sister, and watched the villagers bristle at the implied insult. '_They deserved it.' _They kept quiet though, and Souta wondered if it was due to the new spiritual powers that had been awakened that they were so. It must be interesting to be reprimanded in your head instead of being allowed to reprimand your junior. However junior you could call Kagome at least.

She turned with an abrupt nod, face almost smug in its approval. The others gaped, and Souta held in his laugh as he trotted after his sister. They were finally done in that little place, and he found he would be happy enough to walk by his sister alone again- because that's how they always had been.

…

Kagome looked up as they crested the stairs, finding a grim reaper with her senses and sending that knowledge somehow to her brother through their bonds. Souta tensed, _'what could they want now? Jerks…'_ He scowled and darkly followed his sister to a corner of the lot just before their own barrier- watching the grim girl try with frustration and stunned awe as she was repelled once again.

"You won't get in that way." Souta taunted out, watching her turn in surprise to look at them before a smile lit her face and she was in front of them. '_What an annoying mass of perkiness_', Souta thought in his dark mood, all too ready to slam her into the barrier and head into the house with his sister.

But he couldn't.

The blue haired woman was babbling, and his sister seemed to be catching all of what was said- and not liking it. She pulled him to her by his elbow when the grim seemed to be winding down, and he turned his head without his eyes as the grim finally opened her eyes to regard them curiously. And he got a perfectly mischievous idea. He snarled and snapped.

Kagome laughed at the way the girl recoiled, and he grinned and winked his eye before the turned to his sister. "Do you have to do this, whatever it is…?"

She smiled and gave him her own wink, and he grinned more as he caught the gleam in her eye. "I need Sesshoumaru with me, so I'm going to stall the way I best learned," that got her an odd look, "I need you to contact him."

"Alright." There was a pause as they regarded each other and then he sighed. "How do I do that?"

She winked at him and shooed him to her room, and he got the distinct impression that he should go as slowly as possible to catch exactly how his sister would stall.

"So they want me in Reikai," a murmured response, "are they all there?" Another murmured response, "It seems to me that they wouldn't all be there…are you so certain we will have such an audience? ..." and the rest faded out of his hearing range as he grinned and loped up the path to their house.

…

Souta looked on in shock, facing Sesshoumaru and wondering exactly _what_ his sister had learned on her surprise trip. He looked down at the ash in his hand, and stared at the towering demon before him. "Well that was pretty easy."

The pale face broke into a grin and his hand came up to ruffle his hair, "She needed me?"

"Uhn, the grim of reikai came to collect her for their purposes." He nodded his head firmly in confirmation of his own statement.

The jaunty lines of the aristocratic face hardened and became something very sinister and foreboding- for reikai. Souta found he wanted to go, as much as he wanted to stay.

The demon lord Sesshoumaru solved his dilemma, "We're ahead of schedule, but I believe you already know this."

He gave him an innocent look, certain that he would see through it and know his sister had been telling him stories for a while now. The demon lord inclined is head in some respect, hand falling off his head to squeeze his shoulder in reassurance. He paused before he went to catch his sister and the grim, sending a telling smirk over his shoulder. "Your sister is a very important woman to us, but we would feel honored for you to accept us into your family."

And Souta grinned as he felt them leave.

.x.x.x.xXx.x.x.x.

hmmm, okies another chapter. Lol, great job Mishka! Sighs dreamily. I hope you enjoy it and any suggestions are welcome! I got stuck planning how the detectives will react when the story unfolds. I wasn't sure if I wanted them to join Kags or …remain neutral. So suggestions would be appreciated!


	15. Confrontations

She entered the room, a while after her summons, and Kurama jolted with realization of the tall silvery figure beside her- Sesshoumaru of the western plains. He watched Hiei stand up straight in his black and white peripheral vision, and he pushed himself away from leaning on the wall to stand at better attention; the two mostly humans of their group followed their examples, untangling themselves from their relaxed position to the more alert and ready to defend wariness that had been ingrained in them since their childhood.

A sheepish Botan followed the pair and sent an exasperated and timid glance at the prince before she made her way to a corner of the room where she settled and pouted. Koenma gaped openly at the lord, a flash of golden eyes his only answer, and Kagome threw her braid over her shoulder before settling her hand on one hip and resting her weight entirely on one leg- the very picture of superior defiance.

Yusuke raised his eyebrows, and his hands settled on his elbows as he stood and contemplated the woman and her escort. Kuwabara himself was staring openly at the female, eyebrows scrunched in silent confusion as he examined her face. Hiei settled into the shadows against one wall, and Kurama braced himself for a long time of standing and listening.

This should be interesting; at the least he wouldn't be bored.

Koenma settled himself into a confident position in his chair, not rising to greet them in respect or acknowledgement of their arrival. Golden eyes flashed.

"We will get straight to the point. Why did you lie?" A steely question of demand, Koenma jumped right into the heart of this meeting without any pleasantries or observed courtesies.

"Lies? I do not lie; Prince Enma."

"Oh, then what did you call your astral projection?"

A raised eyebrow as Sesshoumaru smirked slightly in the shadows. Her lips smoothed into an indulgent smile; "I call it the deliberate omission of information- information that you had no right to."

Koenma scoffed at her words, but Kurama found he and Youko amusedly excited. She was a con-artist, and purely kitsune qualities were emerging that colored her personality something interesting. _Damn it was fun watching Koenma get flustered like_ _that_- as much as he tried to hide it.

"I have every right to it, it threatens my reign." Kagome chuckled lightly, a hand rising to hide her lips as she closed her eyes. Koenma took a step forward to demand something of her, but the demon lord stepped forth as well, glaring at the prince as he emerged from his shadows and stood protectively beside the miko. Koenma backed down but couldn't still his claims. "I could charge you for withholding valuable information."

All of a sudden Kagome sharpened, her features presenting a predatory cast they hadn't before. "Withholding information?" She practically purred with disdain. Koenma sputtered in nervousness and some surprise, Kurama and Youko were far used to shifting personalities and con artists to really note who it was coming from. "I may 'withhold information', as you so put it, but it isn't something you needed to know. I never lie; Koenma. It is beneath me to do so."

Kurama found himself inching closer to the hybrid friend of his, wanting input on the vibes clashing between the powers and words that seemed more like swordplay and battle than an argument. _'I think I'm proven correct…'_

Kurama looked at his shorter comrade out of the corner of one eye, far too interested in the silent battle between auras that was happening to focus all his attention on that one comment and its owner. _'Your theory?'_

Hiei smirked and returned to the argument.

Koenma hissed out his anger and frustration. "It is not right."

Now her feathers seemed ruffled, her presence actually seeming to multiply and grow despite the fact that she remained her normal petite size. Her chin tilted up, her eyes narrowing to slits and their color seeming to swirl and change to something kin to the ocean during a lightning storm. "What is right? You question my morality and my truth while you so obviously hold back from your detectives?"

Koenma's eyes narrowed in confusion before they widened. Yusuke straightened up in confusion and interest as he looked between the two beings that were battling it out on the political plane. Hiei and Kurama only shared interested glances before turning and watching, Kuwabara standing to his full imposing height as they all looked to Koenma.

Kagome was the one who spoke. "It is considered honorable to share information with your workers; they are your comrades in arms. It is far better to earn the loyalty with truth and respect and not debt and manipulation."

Koenma rose up with his ire, only managing to look like a kitten that had its fur petted the wrong way in contrast to Kagome's panther like controlled rage. "I think we should get you under surveillance, something _you've_ been doing _has_ been going against the rules set."

"Have you told them Enma-sama?" Her voice was deadly sweet, the honorific added on startling all present, although with the demon lord you couldn't really tell. It was meant to grab your attention. And it caught theirs, directing it to their reikai contact and boss as his presence seemed to fold in on itself- to shrink in uncertainty and anxiety.

"I see nothing I have to tell them." The prince had found his voice, but it wasn't what the miko wanted to hear, as her eyes narrowed impossibly further and her lip lifted slightly into what would have been a snarl before her face cleared and she threw a demeaning glance at the prince and an amused expression to the silver haired demon.

Then she broke out laughing, hysterically at that. Kurama shifted slightly wondering if she had lost her mind while in the coma and really wasn't anything of a threat. Youko scoffed in the back of his mind. _'That woman is not insane_' - a veiled look of interest directed at the faint movement of her hand near the cuff of her sleeve, a flash of silver –_ 'she finds something amusing about this conversation- and we will soon find out what.'_

'_But Koenma has said he wishes to speak of nothing.'_

'_Then he is a fool.'_ Kurama started at the interruption of Hiei's echoing mind voice, but found the hybrid still looking attentively at the miko and Youko only distracted him by nodding happily in agreement; he turned his attention to the happenings in the office, paying slight attention to the faint mind mumblings of the fox and smiling briefly when he noted the lord step closer to the miko with an amused smirk upon his face, twisting the smooth stripes of his station into something far more sinister than a social symbol should be able to look.

Her laughter stopped. It was as abrupt as it had begun, and Kurama shook his head to clear it of the marvel he found at such odd behavior. And then she stepped forward.

All attention was focused on her now, as there was no looking aside from her presence. Not only was her aura physically pulsing around her stature, but the air in the office seemed to still and shift only to her will and person. "You haven't told them yet?"

Koenma seemed to bristle even more, the hair around the nape of his neck starting to rise slightly with his ire and irritation. Kagome's tone was slightly mocking and all disapproving; something that Koenma wouldn't like- it sounded like she was talking to a _child_.

Kagome turned abruptly to face them, her hair swinging out as her eyes curved into crescents of mischief and glee. "Ne, I guess I will then." All joy left her features, the now solemn woman regarding them without any spark in her eyes- more reminiscent of the hardened warriors they had met who only sought death. "The barrier is falling."

And then her smile returned- the gentle light it emerged with was entirely different. Something that Kurama had seen her use on some level but never to this extent.

Kurama gaped as she seemed to desire leaving the conversation there, shoulders squaring and her hands settling at her elbows in a pose of self assuredness and calm. Youko broke out into a gale of laughter, and Hiei twitched slightly in response beside them. The miko wasn't finishing the conversation, but she was waiting for denial or questions so she wouldn't leave them all stewing in confusion.

'_Or let the brat take this and spin it so he doesn't look in so bad a light.'_ Youko drew his attention to the frantic Koenma as he half stood from his chair and gripped the side of his desk with white knuckled hands. Kurama idly admired the desk, a fine mahogany that was polished despite the fact that it so rarely saw the natural light that would leach it of its color and detail.

None were voiced, and Koenma seemed to pale under the silence and his inability to break it. Kurama half heartedly smiled, _'I guess it's all true, Koenma has been keeping this from us.'_

Youko growled faintly, his fur bristling and eyes narrowing. _'I would have thought him smarter than this, but alas I am proven wrong.'_

Kagome sighed, a hand coming up to press against her temple as she lost the aura of stoic politician and become the girl that had a brother she cared for deeply and a welcoming home and friends that called her…

.x.

Shikato shivered as he approached the shrine, wondering why it felt so foreboding when he knew he was welcome just by his heritage and not even with the relationship he had developed with the Higurashi siblings. He sighed as he reflected that a close relationship wasn't so true, but he guessed he could have been settling for less had there been any more complications. He wasn't exactly sure what had set the young Higurashi off- he didn't have his ancestor's insight after all.

It was said that the Wanderer had been renowned for his wisdom, and always knew the exact words to say to relieve the tension or ease a troubled heart. He supposed some of that could have been embellished over time, but he had no reason to second guess what he had found in the scrolls of legends right now.

He sighed once more and straightened his shoulders as he started on the steps that would lead him to the inevitable truth he sought. For some reason there was something off in the air, and he needed to speak to Kagome-sama and possibly another Eschew before he founded his own conclusions- it was always prudent to second guess one self, it led to less mistakes.

He nervously fidgeted with the hem of his sweater as he knocked on the shrine household, twitching as he felt the blatant test of the barriers on his person, and he shivered just as the wind from the door opening sent more power rushing along his newly awoken senses.

A scowling Souta greeted his vision before he grimaced and interrupted any curt words. "Something's up." The boy stopped whatever tirade he would have started. And Shikato sighed and gestured to the warmer inner house hold.

He was let in; shoes carefully placed facing the entrance and guest slippers donned quietly before he followed the tense teen in front of him to a cozy den. Souta passed by him to close the door, and Shikato almost found himself intimidated by the obviously sporty teenager before he straightened up his back and settled himself down on a small chair.

Best he starts before the boy could work up his ire. He had spent his life avoiding the ridicule of the descendents, he could still one boys indignation he was sure. "The other Ningen Eschew are being informed, but I feel something is wrong. Kagome-sama is…"

Souta interrupted him as he growled rather convincingly and sat in a chair he pulled up close in front of him. He leaned forward on his knees, hands bracing him as he regarded him hostilely before it warmed to something wary and welcoming. Shikato blushed lightly and furrowed his brows in confusion as he returned the glance.

"My sister can take care of herself- I should know." Souta settled himself against the back of the chair, his hands folding together under his chin and foot tapping with excess energy against the floor. "Yes the spirits that have been released at your home would affect you this way- you can sense everything and know nothing of it."

Shikato blushed hotly now in anger and embarrassment but Souta smiled and all chariness seemed to vanish from his expression. The smile faded into something contemplative, and he ran his eyes over Shikato; "My sister is one who will do what she wants, as long as she feels it is right. You can try to talk her out of something for it being too dangerous, but then you'll let her talk you into letting her go. That's how she is. The only thing you can do is follow along and guard her back. But she's my sister, and I will always guard her back."

Shikato twisted slightly, eyebrows furrowing as he felt something moving in his bag as it rested at his feet. He was distracted from his train of thought as said bag fell over, squirming about as he and Souta watched on in curious horror. Bags are _not_ supposed to move.

.x.

Kagome stretched her hands above her head, cracking her fingers as she interlocked them and pushed.

"A long time ago there was no barrier, but the races were in turmoil and war and death were prominent guests in everyone's life. The Sengoku Jidai, the Warring States era, labeled such for the blood and souls that were lost and the senseless battles for honor and pride." Sesshoumaru shifted, settling further against the wall and in the shadow as Yusuke watched with his curious gaze. He knew this was true, he could feel it in her words and see it in her face. "It was then a jewel was created between warring kis, a miko and some gathered demons. These demons were the ancients, who had the ability to congeal into one gigantic monstrosity to accomplish their purposes. But this miko gave her life to seal her fate in a jewel- locked in eternal battle to protect her village."

Sesshoumaru spoke up, stepping out of his shadows and picking up the thread of this story as if he was the original teller. "The jewel was slightly sentient, but it was defenseless. It was passed along through several caretakers before it ended up with one miko." He spun on his heel, beginning to pace as Yusuke kept his true focus on the small little miko in front of him. "She was renowned for her solemn purity, and the jewel was left in her care where she honored her duty for years to come. And then she met a hanyou." Kagome smiled lightly in amusement. "They entered a tentative friendship that grew to love. It was at this time she came to oversee that caretaking of a dying human- trying to make his life as comfortable as possible until he passed on from the world.

"This injured man lusted after the beauty of the solemn miko, and he lusted after her power and the jewel she protected. In his rage and jealousy he offered himself to demons and became the conglomerate hanyou that tainted the tentative love between the miko and pure hanyou. They both were sealed with betrayal and lost to time.

The jewel itself, though few know this truth, was growing in its spirituality and loathed all who yearned for it- but with the death of its guardian and being burned with her cremation it used up most of its powers to create the barrier between the worlds- this would never happen again.

"And the barrier grew as the jewel went into ningenkai and sought another miko to live by. It found one and it was peaceful for a while." The demon lord gave a cool gold eyed glance to the prince who was pale and shivering slightly. "But it sensed the barriers falling and realized that nothing was safe, that knowledge and awareness would be the best. And with the barrier's falling it was in danger again with a guardian that knew nothing of true powers."

Kagome sort of pouted, but her eyes were smiling and Yusuke found himself smirking in slight confusion but able to feel the emotions nonetheless. Kuwabara had settled heavily beside him, listening in rapt attention as smooth words flowed in the air of the room.

"It was at this time that there was an accident, and the jewel in its sentient thought found the opportunity to teach this new miko. There was a journey, and there was turmoil and trust and danger and betrayal. But most of all there was this new miko; strange and kind and a dreamer who welcomed all and smiled at the simple things."

Kagome blushed lightly, and Yusuke found the proverbial light bulb going off in his head. He shook it swiftly to clear it and listen better, now much more interested than considered possible at this little bit of history.

"So the barrier is falling and Kagome needed to be trained. But in doing so she started a dream. And then the Eschew were formed. We gather to control the taint of the world and advocate the workable peace that we discovered with our miko; Our Heiwa no Miko. Heed this; the barrier _is_ falling." Sesshoumaru leveled them with a forthright glare, daring them to argue.

"We know it like we know our ways." Kagome spoke up gently, gaze going beyond all of them to somewhere they could never be.

"We are gathering and setting up the worlds for the inevitable, hopefully there won't be much turmoil if we have the Eschew working…"

He abruptly broke off as Kagome threw back her head and her arms flung out in a spin in the center of the room. Her braided hair whipped around her neck and back, forming odd patterns in the air. Sesshoumaru jolted a step forward, as startled as the tantei at this behavior before his face cleared into something fondly confused.

Her eyes were brilliantly lit when she stopped and faced them all, grinning charmingly and enthusiastically at them and Yusuke couldn't help but wonder exactly who this woman was. He knew her superficially, enjoyed her presence and her home and her family, and he was drawn to her like he knew her completely. He didn't, he didn't know her likes and dislikes, could only guess at her love and joy, and could only wonder about her complete past and her dreams. Her _shadow truths_…

"They're answering! Sesshoumaru! They're okay, they're here! Oh, it's so beautiful!" Her gleeful shout was met with her little jump of joy as she bounded over to her demon accomplice, her hands held in front of her face in exuberance to cover her smile at the sheer overwhelming joyous thought of whatever had set her off.

And then the structure of reikai rumbled, the sensors blared along the shelf in Koenma's office, the lights flickered; and then an overpowering wave of colorful spirit energy flooded through the whole place and knocked them to their knees.

Kagome seemed unperturbed, standing and smiling and laughing as she spun in the powerful currents.

An answering power came from the opposite direction, pushing them further to the ground and causing the miko to light up with an inner joy so palpable Yusuke swore he saw Hiei get a happy flush to his cheeks. Yusuke started laughing, unsure whether it was the affect of the miko and the power or just simply his amusement at the stray thought… _'Hiei looks plastered…_'

.x.

A quiet mew came out as a cat's head worked its way between the flap of the bag and the floor, fur bunching and pushing oddly as ears popped out of the constricting bag and eyes closed against the abrasive surface of the carpet. Souta knelt down without thinking, letting his natural instincts to aid the animal surface as he gently picked it up and out of the bag and set it on the floor.

Shikato was tense in his chair, hands fisting with white knuckles as he looked over his knees at them on the floor. "What…what is that?"

The kitten shook its head, fur ruffling back into its natural place and its trio of tails curling around its dainty black paws at it regarded the two boys. Shikato seemed curiously horrified, like one would when passing something they knew was mortifying but their innate instinctual curiosity drove them to look and be grossed out anyway. Souta distractedly wondered if he ever really _acknowledged_ the reality of the demons. Maybe he just abstractedly thought of them as something like human mutants…

But Souta knew what this was.

A demon cat; it was a small little neko that could light with fire and transform to some giant saber-toothed roaring beast that could protect and attack at whim.

He shivered.

_Scary_…but cute! Darn it Kagome was rubbing off on him. He scratched the back of his head and regarded the cute bundle of blonde and black fur as it tilted its head sweetly and blinked its wide crimson eyes. "Well…" he chuckled lightly and relaxed, hands falling gently to the floor beside his knees. "I never expected to see you…you are Kirara right? I always heard of twin tails…gotten powerful ne?"

The kitten mewled lightly again, Souta grinning as he watched the stunned Shikato out of the corner of his eye. "That's Kirara- the demon that served my ancestors?"

Souta lowered his brows over his eyes, tilting his head and picking up the cat to cradle her against his chest and scratch under her chin like Buyo enjoyed. "She aided and worked with your ancestors and my sister as an equal. One of the few demon kind that met and walked with the group."

Shikato blinked and looked up at him. Hand tentatively outstretched to caress the fur on Kirara's head. "Do you think we…" he smiled briefly at the purr that rumbled through their fingers from the small animal form, "I think we should compare histories."

Souta settle back against his heels and regarded the Eschew in front of him. Shikato really had no clue what he was getting into…Souta laughed and nodded his head, picking up Kirara and settling back into his chair to listen and then to tell.

It might be a very long night…enough time for his sister to come home.

And then the power hit.

..x.X.x..

.x.x.

.x.

Crazy Mishka here, logging out, mission complete.

.x. To Ichikokitsunekumouri- I'm not exactly sure what you meant about the ningen eschew...but I think it was because they had no spiritual powers...therefore reikai wouldn't be interested in them...at least not until they were right under their nose! (I think that's the answer you were looking for UU)

http/ video. (Remove spaces…go to the search box and type in Inuyasha...FUN!)


	16. Confusion

Shikato looked up and shook his head, hands splayed to keep his balance as he remained on the floor. That shock had left the whole household shaking, and his head was ringing with the effects of the power.

Power calling out to power.

Souta shook his head as he sat up, looking around carefully as he heard his elders doing the same down the hall. He groaned and looked up, his neck still weak that his head lolled slightly before he righted it. "Damn, I felt that even with my power!"

Shikato gaped at him, not knowing whether it was for the curse or for, "_even_ with your power?"

Souta nodded absently, rubbing his temple to ease some ache. Shikato suspected he had hit his head harder than it looked. "Yeah, even with my power. I don't have the best control and not even the greatest reserve." Souta's brown blue were looking at him again. "I suppose right now you are at my level of control, not saying much since I can't practice."

Shikato shook his head rapidly, eyebrows scrunching up with his equally rapid thoughts though it did naught to help. "What _exactly_ are you saying?"

Souta gave him a measuring look, before his lips smiled and he stretched, getting up to turn on a small TV and seeming to ignore the human Eschew in front of him with questioning eyes. He grinned a little but wider; "I'm saying that people like my sister would have felt that coming, and maybe even been able to stand during it."

"But the calling was meant to knock all to their knees, _'in reverence for the coming of our miko's revolution we will all bow to the calling power and answer it with haste. The world will know of our intentions, and all will come to be as it was supposed to be.'_" Souta simply looked at him oddly, face going off in thought as he breathed in deep.

"My sister withstood that power surge."

Shikato left it alone, there was something in the way the Higurashi said it that made it closed for conversation. "Do you know what's happening? I only have been told of the call. The histories didn't establish anything past what needed to happen for that."

**X**.**x…**

Yusuke and the tantei settled in the park again, the bench and the trees and the grass hiding them from the ignorant world and comforting them slightly from their confusion. The baffling encounter at Koenma's office had left them to a quiet stillness that gave Yusuke the shivers- no ghosts this time. It wasn't that this was so unsettling…not that their life was ever somewhat normal in any sense of the word. It was that there was so much here that they never knew before. Koenma had kept this from them, maybe afraid that they would turn tail and aid the fall, or aid the demons. Maybe he was afraid that the jewel so talked about would tempt them…

And here they were, confused and unsure, something that Yusuke hated and he knew his friends hated as well. They had built up their trust in their work and their fights. To have it betrayed so was…ludicrous, uncanny, unsettling…degrading. They needed each other to work as a team, because that is what they trained as, that was what they were, and Koenma had just broken that.

Yusuke wondered how they should go about things now…

**X.x**…

Shippou couldn't help but bounce around the halls of his fortress, well not_ his _really but theirs. There was so much energy in his body he couldn't help but terrorize the more aged youkai and the quieter demons that inhabited their stronghold. He grinned tauntingly at a passing Eschew that gave him an odd look. He didn't care.

Anyone would be idiotic to not be energetically bouncing around and grinning madly like any common fool. Kagome was ready, the ningen Eschew were ready, and the youkai Eschew were ready. The call that rang out literally threw stolid youkai to the floor, spirits were pushed along the supernatural currents, ningen who were unaware of any mystical beings were knocked down by the force, and Kagome had laughed.

He had heard it.

**X.x…**

"What exactly do you know about my sister?" Shikato looked up from where he was looking out over the shrine grounds, finding the more traditional side of the house perfect for sliding shoji doors open and simply sitting and gazing. Souta and he had been knocked from their conversation by the power flare that shook the world- literally.

The TVs were raging with newscasts about the phenomenon, and Shikato found he was not interested because he had felt the truth in his soul. That was power calling to power, that was what contact with people of like desire and like heart could accomplish.

Kagome had returned, stopping briefly at their room to greet them and share with them an odd but happy reunion with the demon cat. And then she had smiled and told of business she had to accomplish.

Through all this they hadn't finished their conversation, and Shikato knew it would be best for both of them to share their versions of the histories. He shook his head, eyes blinking as he tried to collect his thoughts with the TV in the background- talking about disasters and riots and panic in the streets; a brief expose on the cults' activity, some president's speech, the military being sent out, the earthquakes and natural disasters that strangely enough never harmed anyone.

**X.x…**

Hiei leaned back, face blank in contemplation as he regarded his friends and their reactions to this revelation. He for one had never liked the toddler, but even he was surprised by the miko's words with the Taiyoukai. He had always been somewhat sensitive to the rambling thoughts and connecting images of strong emotions, with the help of his Jagan he had been able to discern their truth from their words.

And the barrier _was_ falling.

It was inevitable, since the reikai was unable to properly care for it like the jewel (a sentient being was still a concept that the hybrid couldn't really wrap his head around) had hoped for. Hiei let out an exasperated breath, shaking his friends out of their stupor and drawing their attention to him. "I hate to say it but we need to…talk." The disgusted sneer on his face set Yusuke off, Kuwabara covering his mouth to hold in an outbreak of laughter. He rolled his eyes and settled further against the tree, finding the team once again seeking refuge and answers in the park.

After the encounter in Reikai, they were all rather disgruntled and confused. This laughter was to release their tension so Hiei would allow it. They had all had separate encounters with either of the Higurashi, and then the instances where they all met. And yet they hadn't talked deeply about it yet. They hadn't discussed what was really going on, what would happen if it were all true and what they all suspected.

It was time for their confessions. Hiei entertained briefly a humorless smirk, wondering if the miko of peace could sit and listen to _his_ confessions…

Kurama licked his lips in hesitation, fingers tapping some rhythm against his arms as he regarded some point in the past of his mind. "I went to her old school," his eyes flickered briefly to them, ascertaining he had their attention. "I had a rather unpleasant encounter with her friends." He spoke hesitantly, and Yusuke sat up stiffer with a growl.

"Those twits; the three giggly girls and hussy male?"

Hiei smirked slightly; lip rolling up in what some would call a sneer as he pondered Yusuke's ability to nail a descriptive so easily and brusquely. Kurama smirked, his amusement clear as well before he nodded his head and casually brushed his crimson locks behind his shoulder. "I had a rather enlightening conversation, despite their obvious bias and ignorant opinion." His hand ran through his hair and Hiei faintly growled as he tilted his head back to hit the tree trunk. The damn fox was so used to being the drama queen it came naturally.

"Speed it up kitsune."

Kurama caught himself with a surprised face and then sheepish amusement. "The odd spells were seizure like instances where Kagome was unresponsive to any outside stimuli. It happened often I gather, at least once a day. From what they describe she went into a meditative like trance, eyes were dilating with stillness and body going limp." He hesitated and Hiei stiffened up straighter. Something was very personal about what he wanted to say, and he was uncertain whether he should say it or not.

The two humans were discussing the importance of this, eyes calculating and shifting between thoughts they had gathered on their own._ 'What more is there?'_

Kurama shifted, settling more weight onto one foot as he ran his fingers through his hair in nervousness. _'I picked up…some faint amusement over these episodes. With the disgust and fear that came from knowing someone was different.'_

Hiei stiffened more, his ability to empathize with that causing memory to briefly press against the barriers he had erected to keep his mind intact. He had been strangely at ease with the Higurashi onna, at ease enough that he _could_ sympathize with her and not be offended in the slightest. From what he had seen she was strong enough to respect and Hiei knew there were still things they were missing. He dared to think they could only respect her more when/if they found out the rest.

"I am still unsure if Kagome is a miko reincarnate or the descendent who stumbled upon some scrolls and had her power awoken- that would account for her seizure." Kuwabara spoke up, bringing about a question that had been tossed about in his mind often by the telling look on his face.

**X.x…**

"My sister is the Heiwa no miko, and it is not because she is a reincarnation."

**X.x…**

Shippou jerked as he was caught by the collar of his vest; grabbing onto his throat at the release of pressure and turning his glare up to the wolf. Ayame grinned toothily at him, arms crossing over her chest as he balefully glared at her from under his bangs.

_How come the wolves were always so violent?_

She let out a laugh, head tilting in distraction as she watched some other demons go about their business _without hurting the ever abused Shippou-chan! _He got up and dusted off the seat of his hakama, wondering if he had a sign on his back that made wolves treat him so roughly.

"What did you want red?" Ayame scowled at her nickname, and he grinned unrepentantly up at her. He needed to get one up on the bigger demons every once in a while, at least until he could take refuge with his Kagome-chan.

She sighed at his theatrics, easily recognizing his shifting face for the inner mischief they had all come to recognize without Kagome there to stifle it under good intentions. "Would you calm down? Everyone is antsy enough without your _jubilant_ display of kitsune enthusiasm."

_Hey!_ He _caught_ that sarcasm.

But Shippou sighed and settled, his face turning stony as he regarded the wolf in front of him, realizing belatedly that others were trying not to eavesdrop and failing as they went about their duties.

Might as well make the most of it.

"Kagome called us, she was there. I heard her and I could almost see her and I could practically_ feel_ her warmth right in front of me." His voice was the quiet hiss of an affronted kitsune, something that he hadn't done since he had met Kagome. How could one feel affronted when she was near to soothe?

Ayame drew back in alarm, her hands coming up in reflex to guard her neck. "I…what?"

**X.x…**

The background noise of the other household occupants reached his ears, blending almost harmoniously with the sounds of the quiet television news broadcast. The whole world had been affected by the power surge on some level.

Shikato looked oddly at the fire cat, grateful for its distraction and wondering just exactly how big BIG was. Souta had been relating tales of travel and adventure and loss and the cat had played an important role. He was still trying to wrap his head around the timeline. And then he was shocked with the realization that Kagome-sama had really meant everything she said, that everyone would be welcomed equally and treated equally.

It was hard to imagine this cat being anything other than a cat.

"So you only know the brief stuff in the scrolls, a traveling monk who started your clan?" Souta questioned curiously, his hand going up to hold his chin as his gaze fell into thought. Shikato had tried to read into his personality, but he had never really been good at that, having been forced into seclusion because he believed in the old tales while everyone else had lost faith.

It wasn't really their fault; as imposters had come over time and most of the documented scrolls had been lost to the natural elements.

"That must have been Miroku the pervert then."

Shikato sputtered, rushing to sit up straighter and grasp the arms of his chair with a white knuckled grip. "What?"

Calm brown blue eyes sent him a quelling look, and Souta shook his head slightly as he scratched the demon cat absently. "I told you there was a pervert monk that traveled with my sister – con artist too – he would have been one of those able to write down the logs. He started the Ningen Eschew with Sango the demon exterminator, holding true to my sister's teachings and welcoming everyone who needed sanctuary into their home for however long it was needed." His eyes grew calculating, darting about as he finished his thoughts before he finished his words. Shikato found the enlightenment there somehow threatening, as if he couldn't decide what would happen with this new development- or if he even wanted to hear it. "Most chose to stay and were welcomed, the clan grew to one big family without the threat of extinction due to inbreeding and the ningen warriors needed for the revolution were expanded."

Shikato leaned back, relieved that this wasn't as big as it looked. But then he scowled; "And then they lost the spiritual path but continued the warrior teachings because it was what they worked as- bodyguards, martial arts teachers, blacksmiths and weapon smiths, you name it and its physical we love it."

Souta still had that unholy gleam in his eye, and Shikato stumbled to a halt with his words. There was something still there, as if Souta had something to say and his eyes were the only thing that would announce his intentions. The Higurashi boy looked down slightly and his tongue came out to swipe across his bottom lip in nervousness that had Shikato raising his brow in curiosity.

"I need to offer an apology, my behavior previous wasn't awfully welcoming."

**X.x…**

_Damn_ this…

He pushed himself away from the tree lightly with his foot, catching their attention as he settled on the ground and slowly placed his katana across his lap. His elbows settled on his knees, and then his chin upon his hands. "This doesn't matter." He ignored their surprised faces. "What matters is what we are going to do."

Kurama's face cleared and he nodded. "Now that we have some answers from her directly we know what Koenma was being so paranoid about." Hiei sneered and tilted his head with his eyes closed. "Since he didn't want us to know about her powers or the barrier, even without the presence of that jewel, I don't think he was planning on telling us anytime soon- even though our lives and companions are at stake." He knew they were all looking at each other with thoughts of their loved ones, worried now that they were brought up to attention and all the repercussions of Reikai's actions reached their minds.

If the barrier was falling and they were only frantically searching for ways to _repair_ it…what would happen when it fell? There would only be a force of magicians to try to put something powerful back up again and no one to fight the demons and possible humans that were going to make use of the lapse of force.

_Everyone_ would be unprepared for the fall.

"There are very few humans that could hold up against any assault, the army is only for peace keeping and natural disasters since the human wars…they have no hope against trained demons that live to kill."

"Kagome is trained like that…" Yusuke paused. "Well I know she can use weapons." He stuffed his hands in his pockets ad slouched against a tree, Hiei looking at him askance as he let out a puff of breath that was slow and absent minded as his thoughts went elsewhere. "I caught her and her brother out shopping one time; she had weapons in one of her bags though I don't think her brother noticed. We encountered her friends then." He briefly inclined his head to Kurama, and then his gaze drifted off slowly before coming to rest on some stray weeds that had popped up on the path near them.

They all went silent for a bit, Kuwabara leaning back heavily on the ground with a flop as he stared up at the sky.

"What we need to decide is what we are going to do about it."

There was a silence between them; one of contemplation and memories. Because that really was the question; what are they going to do about it?

What are they going to do…?

What are _you _going to do?

What am_ I_ going to do?

What is going to happen?

_Why_ were we told all of this?

**X.x…**

There was a silence, something that Shikato found he could ignore in favor of gaping and distracting himself with the sounds of the news. It didn't quite work as he had hoped, Souta coming up and kneeling in front of him to catch his attention.

"My sister had just come back to me after four years, years when my elders told me she would be happier wherever she was and that she probably wouldn't come back. We had always been close…" he closed his eyes, Kirara weaving around his neck for comfort as he tipped his head back in memory. "Imagine my joy when she came back to me, when she just smiled and pulled me to her for a hug and a story like the ones I had been missing."

Shikato shifted, eyes confused and wondering.

"I had missed her. A lot." Souta smiled dreamily, eyes softening into something Shikato had never really seen on anyone other than his father when he talked of his mother. "And then I went with her, to simply be beside her and watch her back, to greet the remaining Eschew that needed to be contacted." He grinned slightly, eyes till far off and adding something to the smile that made it less than happy and more than sad. "I was very put off when you came up and started talking to her with your reverent attitude; I guess I wanted to keep her to myself for a while longer." He shifted, eyes darting to his face and he smiled apologetically.

"Then I had to call Sesshoumaru, he was to escort my sister into Reikai when they questioned her." Shikato gaped, _he had met The Sesshoumaru?_ "He said something to me, and it made me think. I've had my sister most my life, and she came back to me because I needed her. While she was gone she met people that needed her too, and I was being selfish. These were _all_ her family, and I had no right to want her for myself when she was already mine. I didn't need to tell the world that and I acted like a brat when I did."

Souta looked at him keenly, and Shikato found his throat swelling with words. The tumbled over each other in a rush to get out, and he couldn't even predict what he was going to say when he opened his mouth. "Don't apologize." He hurried, "I would have locked her up in a closet to keep her!"

Souta's eyes widened in surprise, and then his face smiled with enlightenment and ease that had not been there previous. "You would have been surprised at what she would do to get out," he said with that gleam back, making Shikato wonder if he was speaking from experience; though now there was something there that called for Shikato to join in the mischief. "I guess the only thing I can say is welcome to the family."

**X.x…**

Shippou shook his head, feeling his ponytail hit his neck and his tails swish in agitation. "I know most of you think of me as a kit, but if so then I am _her_ kit. I have a connection with her, aided by our bond and my powers." Here he sent her a sideways glare with a tilt of his head. "And I don't care if you guys are unsure of the revolution, or that you don't really understand what is going on. _I_ heard her_ call_ and her dream, and it _is_ going to happen."

Ayame opened her mouth to say something, form now not intimidating or sure as she usually was. A few of the demons who had been trying to subtly listen were now blatantly staring, hoping for the reassurance they needed and Shippou was all too ready to give.

He snarled- ashamed a little at their disbelief, all too easily remembering himself doing the same thing at one point…all the more for him to advocate now. "The barrier is falling, and we will have secured our side of the revolution, the ningen eschew have called, and they too will secure their side. The spirits are restless, the time has come." He looked around, making sure that his eyes did not miss a single listener so that they could all swear he was talking directly to them when they later recalled this. "Kagome has given her life to this dream, to the peace that can be achieved, and we should stand by it through all its troubles and turns- she would have done the same for our dreams."

The frenzied motion of his own hand surprised him slightly, having gotten so worked up about Kagome and her dream and their doubt that he had been unconsciously moving his hands like she had when _she_ had been excited about a topic. His smile returned, wistful and reminiscing.

The whispers of the audience came then, approving and certain of their path even with the uncertainty of it all and his smile broadened.

He opened his eyes lowly to watch Ayame and her blush, her hands on her hips but her posture defeated, giving the pose an odd unfinished look. His smile gentled, and she sighed and rolled her eyes, recovering and reestablishing her usual coarse dominant personality.

He stuck out his tongue in response, and he returned to bouncing off the walls.

Besides, Kagome would be there soon, and he might as well live it up while he could- there were things that would need to be done after the fall, and time for laughter and gleeful energy would be hard pressed.

He needed to be her_ laughter._

And he would see her, he would be able to feel her warmth as she hugged him and smell her soothing scent as she whispered in his ear about how much she'd missed him and how she couldn't believe it was all finally coming together for them. And he would _smile _and stay there.

With her.

He would be there _with he_r.

_Wow._

He could practically feel it. And what did he care that his enthusiasm was bordering on the insane for normal demons? _He_ was a kitsune, and he was meeting with his soul sibling.

_Yeah, who really cares?_

All that mattered was a dream, the ability for them to remain strong for that dream that would aid them all.

And so he would.

_And god was it fun!_

Shippou laughed as he ran away from the screaming Ayame, briefly wondering about some of her curses' origins before he squeaked at the resulting attack actually landing due to his distraction.

The surrounding demons laughed as he was chased through the halls, and he even caught the amused face of Sesshoumaru- looser with his emotions now that everything was falling into place and there was less to worry about.

Sure there was always something to do, but now they would have their miko to do it with.

And he ran and laughed and smiled.

Because right now he could.

And tomorrow….

Tomorrow he could do it with her.

.x.x.

.x.x.x.x.x

.x.x.x.X.x..x.x.

Decided to update since I got some nice reviews. My home is in turmoil right now, car accidents and the like (Two people and TWO separate incidents! Figure that out!) so I was really discouraged when I barely got any reviews for such a long piece of work that is almost ending. So people should thank the people who did review...and maybe review. They knock some sense of pride into my head and those knocks to the head really do help with inspiration you know. XP. I hope you enjoy this, and be rest assured that I am clearing up all the confusion in the next chapter or two...don't know how my muse will let it end. So if you have any unclear spots, ask me and I will try to make sure I cover all the holes in my story for you! Ne, ENJOY!


	17. Culmination

Kurama was just about to open his mouth to break the silence, far past the comfortable ensconce of friendly thought and deliberation and casually tiptoeing into the space between uneasy comrades who knew not which direction they would take, when a portal abruptly slashed through the energy around them and admitted a confused Botan and panicky Koenma.

The two stumbled into their park sanctum, hair frazzled and clothes askew as they hurriedly straightened themselves out and looked around them for any spiritually unaware eavesdroppers.

They all tensed, unsure of the Prince's purpose and easily able to view him in an unsavory light with the occurrences that had been thrust upon them. But Koenma ran both hands up his temples and messed up his hair, shaking them to dispel some numbness from his shock. His eyes flashed to them; unsure and guilty but hoping.

Kurama felt himself stiffen as he regarded his boss, all too easily feeling the urge to strangle him surfacing from his more demonic origins. He should have been out for his blood. But he stilled his urges and settled for glaring at the teenage from of the spirit ruler.

Koenma hesitated, but then he looked each of them in the eye and straightened his back with a deep breath…and he sat down on the ground. Kurama was very aware of other people's body language, and he had never, ever, seen Koenma purposefully place himself in a position where others would be viewed as superior.

He tilted his head as he regarded the boy, watching as he took a deep breath to steady himself and seeing as he looked up to them in a plead for their silence so they could hear him out.

He thought it very noble of his more impatient friends as they settled with a glare to the prince and the tilt of their head; they were willing to listen.

Koenma stuttered out, a breath to low for even Kurama to hear before he cleared his throat and started. "It is not that this was a personal slight, you must understand that there have been mass panics about the barrier falling for centuries. Everyone who believed before was shamed and degraded for their foolishness."

'_Never mind the fact that they too must have believed it at some point_.' Youko shrewdly pointed out, all too easily recalling the intricacies and power play that made up the reikai politics.

A totalitarian system if he had ever stolen from one.

'_Reikai has _one_ ruler who delegates to his underlings, and even his son has no power unless through him.'_ Youko paused to eye the prince with predatory eyes. _'He keeps Enma-ouji on a strict chain, fearing dissent from his own flesh and blood and making the prince paranoid about crossing his own father.'_

'_I had no idea that the reikai system was so convoluted.'_

Youko snorted. _'I have no doubt that Enma-sama has his fingers even in the things he delegates. Trust no one, seems to be the totalitarian way- and with all the kings and rulers that must have passed through his gates I'm sure he knows about betrayal and intrigue.'_

Kurama shook his head, willing on some level to hear the prince out…another level of him screaming for him to turn his back and leave without a word. But this had all something to do with the Higurashi, and they had been left with a choice with her….

_What do I do…?_

It was always best to enter with both eyes and mind open.

"What exactly do you need?"

The reikai prince sighed, his whole teenage form deflating as if he needed the body mass depleted to force out the words. "We…I need your help."

"Oh, and we are at your beck and call. We're not Dogs Koenma! We were a team, and you didn't think to tell us the finer points in a case!" Yusuke's voice was an angry hiss, far more telling then his booming shouts as to how far he'd gone into fury.

Kurama stepped up, gaze calculating and shifting between gold and emerald as his suspicion mounted. "What brought this about?"

Botan twitched in remembered shock or fear, he wasn't bothering to decipher, and Koenma drew himself up as his eyes shifted to the side and his clothes rustled with his shiver. Kurama caught Hiei's eye as the claret orbs narrowed and nodded his head in response.

"Koenma, Botan, we need you to tell us if we are ever going to work together."

This statement sent Koenma into fury, standing up in a rush and cheeks blazing with incense and amber eyes flashing. "I know that! My father was the one who didn't want me to tell you, and I cannot act against him! But even he can't ignore the more pressing signs of the Heiwa no miko!" He stood there, hunched over and heaving with his emotion, and Kurama felt his lips twist up at the corners into a smile.

So be it.

"What happened."

Botan tittered out something, and then squeaked when she realized it didn't make much sense to them because she spoke too low. She took a deep breath, "The reikai….the scales…I mean…" She shuddered and trailed off.

Koenma gave her an indignant look before he plucked at a strand of grass. "The reikai scales…they went off. Every single one of them. Reikai was a mess and all the power on either side of the barrier just kept growing, and then…" he gestured futilely with his hands, "it all just stopped."

Botan shook her head frantically, wisps of blue hair thrashing into her face as she narrowed her eyes. "He means the scales stopped, shut down like all the energy in the world had disappeared. But that's impossible!"

Koenma sighed gustily and vaguely gestured with his hand. "We have never seen anything like it; ningenkai was practically glowing with spiritual awareness. And then it was gone- I can't determine if it was our scales or that it actually stopped." His eyes shifted slightly before they refocused with a determined glint. "But power like that doesn't disappear- it builds and echoes along spiritual currents until it meets its target or enters a barrier."

'_So Koenma wants to prove he is trustworthy.' _Youko purred and trailed his claw down his wrist as he thought.

Kurama tilted his head. _'Then he is honest now, and he will be in the future.' _Kurama straightened, "Where was the power culminating?"

The extreme look of relief on the prince's face was tempered by the fright of Botan's and the wary faces of his friends- friends who trusted him to lead them on the right path.

To the Higurashi.

.x.IiiiI.x.

The former reikai tantei and their escorts found themselves at the entrance to a public park- a beautiful expanse of leafy greenness that enticed Kurama on good days. Only that the park was full of people, and outside the gates media reporters and journalists and cults and protesters, and confused tourists and certified looking government officials as well as the militia were all crowded about.

They were briefly overwhelmed with the annoying buzzing of conversations and the natural noise of gathered crowds moving and frantically trying to keep their places before they grouped more solidly together and started to weave their way through the initial crowd.

'…_here in a lonely local park there have been unauthorized loitering of mass crowds and even more rumors of terrorist organizations…'_

'_No more secrets! No more government control! Save our spirituality!'_

'_Praise the gods! I'll be rewarded…'_

'_What the fuck are you people doing! …'_

'_Please step away from the gates, sir. I asked you to step away from the gates.'_

'…_mutter … the enthused mass at the local recreational area…scratch scratch no that's not right…'_

Kurama shook his head to clear it of the mutterings of conversation they were weaving around, and almost had to physically shake his whole body when the feel of the crowd abruptly shifted. This was not the confused mingling of untrained and unable spirits who were confused and protesting and vulnerable…

Although most of these people were untrained, their auras reaching out sloppily, they _were_ powerful. And they were gathered.

He felt the aura of his teammates drawing in on themselves at this development, and sent them a glance over his shoulder before swiftly turning to curve a path around the gathered power.

Kurama walked swiftly through the gathered humans, certain that the woman they sought would be in the thick of things. He felt ningen sizing him up with awareness, heard whispers inquiring about his allegiance, saw children laughing and running around with demon masks, the courted of the Higurashi matriarch though she was strangely absent, vaguely recognized Souta standing next to some teen as he gave him a judging glare, and felt the power building around him, clashing and swirling and mixing in some strange harmony he had never felt before.

The three energies were_ never_ supposed to mix like that.

He heard the whispers, unsure if it was the people around him or the power around him that made him hear so clearly. He could hear the swift pattering of his teammates and Koenma rushing behind him, knew that that soft wind like noise was Botan on her oar. But then he heard other things…

Laughter of the humans around him, vague bits of energy whisking about and humming some sort of approval, and the whispering excitement… '_She knows this is where the three meet, see, the three worlds actually all join near here, so Reikai had to watch the barrier around Japan because it's where it meets see…'_

'_This is the only place where demons are able to break the barrier and actually enter the human world…'_

Kurama felt one of his teammates stumble with a surprised exclamation at a trailing wisp of energy that snapped along their senses.

'_So this is where they planned to take it down, really it has been so weakened already you know she'll do it easily.'_

'_Of course she will!'_

'_I wonder if the demons that worked with_ them _are still alive.'_

Kurama twisted his torso so he could weave his way through one such crowd of these humans, not stopping to apologize when their conversation had to be interrupted for his passage.

'_Did you see that spirit she was talking to? It looked exactly like some monk in the times of…'_

He saw a flash of youki light its way across the barrier, illuminating it in such a blatant physical manifestation that Kurama wondered exactly how great the three worlds were if the illusion of being separate entities was this palpable.

'_Shikato has been hanging around the miko's brother…something about family or the like…'_

'_Do you think everything will go as they recorded?'_

'_They predicted the call and the need…'_

'_They _will_ answer it.'_

Kurama felt Hiei pacing beside him as the people parted with these whispers and smiling excited looks. He couldn't help but think it was like watching people at gift giving days…they were all excited of the prospect…but unsure and afraid of getting exactly what they want in fear of messing it up or not getting what they want and being disappointed.

They finally reached the end of the crowd, the center of the park abruptly so free of the encroaching groups that he heard his comrades tumble slightly at the sudden change. He was right to seek the miko there, and he easily made his way to her now that he didn't have to battle the mingling crowd.

She had her arms gently crossed, fingers tapping some jaunty beat against her bicep and shoulder as her chin tilted and her smile beamed. Her eyes were wide and mirthful when she turned to him in acknowledgement, and her smile opened to reveal a flash of white teeth before she sent her attention back to the area on front of her.

Kurama stepped cautiously up to her side, wondering exactly where the powers were originating as Hiei stepped up a few paces behind him.

"I was wondering when you guys would get here." She gestured with a casual hand over her shoulder to the reikai prince. "The ruling spirits are always idiots but even my call would have set them off."

Kurama opened his mouth to say something, anything really, to get her to explain the call and exactly what was going on…but he was cut off by the arrival of the young man who had been standing near Souta and then the Higurashi son himself approaching with a scowl on his face.

Kurama briefly murmured a greeting to the boy when he introduced himself as Shikato and then startled as Kagome giggled at something her brother had mumbled.

"Souta-kun, behave. I'm sure Sesshoumaru would like to spend more time with you. It's not only Shikato who is excited." Souta pouted briefly but it was quickly displaced with a laugh as Kagome messed up his hair affectionately.

Kurama cleared his throat and watched in fascination as the Higurashi siblings turned to him with startlingly similar movements. He sucked in a breath, briefly wondering what reikai had gotten into…and then dared. "Reikai had a rather interesting experience with their scales…"

He let the sentence hang as Kagome smiled and Souta snickered.

Shikato piped up cheerily from his position beside Souta, and smiled as he distractedly glanced around and spoke. "That would have been Kagome-sama, at first anyway…and then it would have been the ningen Eschew and then the spirits that got pushed along and then…" His mouth was covered by an aggravated Souta although small mumbles could still be heard and you could tell the boy was smiling in spite of it.

Souta shook his head in exasperation. "Let him in on one thing and he goes crazy."

Kagome giggled and then sharply turned to survey the people gathered behind her. Kurama watched the two boys settle down and peruse the crowd as well, and turned slightly so he could speak to his teammates without losing sight of the strange trio.

"There is something really wrong here, I've never felt energy mixing like this _ever_, and I am a kitsune."

Hiei abruptly snapped his head to look at him, his claret eyes flashing and his voice lowering. "The mutterings are about another call going out but I can't read well enough in this crowd to clarify."

Yusuke sighed out a growl and furiously rubbed at his hair, glowering at the crowd and the fields in front of them. "If I didn't like this family so much, I'd say that they were too much of a hassle to let free."

Kuwabara startled and turned wide eyes to them and his gaping face briefly went vague and unfocused with his thoughts. He shook his head and spoke in a hushed and reverent voice. "They _are_ _good _people."

And it was with that final remark that they heard the whispering and shuffling of the crowd go silent, and their attention was turned to the trio smiling as Shikato lowered his hand from where he had raised it to the sky. "Our miko has blessed us!" a muffled whisper of awe ran through the ranks in reply to his shout, "our miko has guided us!" Shouts of joy and encouragement echoed through the mass, "And more importantly our Miko is here!" A resounding cheer shook the spirit detectives where they stood- like the ground itself was reacting to their fervor.

Souta stepped up proudly, shoulders thrown back and face smiling and making his brown-blue eyes sparkle. "Let the final call resound true and strong!"

Clapping and whistles were accompanied by stamping feet and bright grins, the so called ningen Eschew yelling and hollering their agreement.

It suddenly went deathly still as Kagome stepped forward, and her smile was so strong her blue-brown eyes were curved into crescents and her very aura seemed to pulsate with her joy.

"The time has come…" she paused and opened her eyes to gaze serenely over all those gathered, and spare the confused reikai employees a playful wink, "Let the whole earth resonate with our unity!"

And with her shout the spiritual power that had been whisking about them rose and seemed to solidify before the blinding array of colors and strength was pushed into the field.

There was a collectively held breath.

And then a much different power came rushing back, swirling and twisting through the gathered and seemed to scream with the force of all the different youki in it.

A cheer went through the rank as the youki returned to the field, and then Kurama was forced to brace himself with a wider stance as he felt the collective powers gathering and mixing and fighting…

And his eyes widened as he sucked in a breath.

He could see it…

The barrier flickered, pink and blue and green and red…colors flashing and clashing with sounds that almost deafened the soul- for that was what was affected by the reality of the barrier.

Vague shadows and shapes and scents.

Kurama shook his head and turned to gape at the female standing serenely beside him- not only was she serene in the face of this dilemma but her eyes were heavy lidded with satisfaction and her lips were smirking in pride. He shook his head again, clearing it of the supernatural fog to watch a fog of more physical qualities – the air of reikai and makai and ningenkai clashing – as it rolled along the ground in grabbing wisps and curled up his legs like clinging spider threads.

Figures blurred from the misty turmoil, seeming to be birthed of the haze itself and not there through any natural means. The fog appeared to reveal physical forms of demons and spirits, but it was like the mist itself was creating them, infusing them with breath and life before his eyes for some divine purpose never before realized.

The mist vanished without a wind to dissipate it, an abrupt silence sending his ears ringing and his body swaying before he could steady himself.

And when he did he stumbled again.

In front of him what was once an enclosed park now extended miles to the West. Shadows and sunlight battled where once fog obscured, and Kurama could only stagger and gape at the sheer number of those in front of him; wolf, water, dragon, hanyou, elementals, snake, tanuki, neko…

They all at once thrust a fist over their hearts, every single last one of them synchronized with solemn formality, before a single trembling voice rose out; "Miko! We greet thee!" And they all bowed to bended knee as one entity.

A sudden cheer rang through their ranks, and Kurama was startled when an answering call rang up behind him, having forgotten entirely the presence of all the gathered ningen who had seemed aware of demons and myths and legends…

He spun on his heel to watch as they thrust one fist into the air and the other crossed over their hearts, not bowed down but faces raised to the sky to gaze off in respectful distance even with the joyous intimate grins fighting their way onto their faces.

He briefly shared bewildered and awed glances with his teammates and caught the incredulous look of both Koenma and a nervously giggling Botan before he spun to face the demons again.

**.x.x.x.IiiI.x.x.x.**

Okay, first half of end done, review...then next chapter…


	18. Conclusions

.x.IiiI.x.

Jinenji sighed and took in a deep breath, feeling the now reunited earth greeting lost roots and soil with such mirth was astoundingly profound to one such as him, and he couldn't help his smile as the earth sang out the miko's deeds.

He half closed his eyes to hear of her exploits, and let out a quiet chuckle when he was informed of her interaction with the reikai…and then his face saddened as he saw what she would have become. The other path that might have been was possibly easier and explainable- but it would have killed her. Their Heiwa no Miko was a strong one, but her strength had always been in helping others.

Jinenji let out a sigh and felt the earth titter in sympathetic response before it as back to rushing around and greeting long lost roots and mixing the fauna so that the makai and the nigenkai could start to coexist after such long separation and adaptation.

Jinenji grinned and stretched his neck to look over the gathered Eschew…just as they were going to adapt.

.x.IiiI.x.

Inuyasha smirked and scratched his nose, catching the scents he had missed for so many centuries as it teased along the wind and flowed through the grass. There was something about smelling humans freely again that made him think of home.

He cursed happily under his breath, a byproduct of trying to annoy Kagome even as far back as the Sengoku Jidai that he had never quite shaken. He grinned; it was always fun to watch her color in indignation at his more colorful vocabulary.

He had gone years without that…

They had gone through a lot to get here, and Inuyasha breathed deeply as he recalled the painful months securing alliances and fighting wars over territory.

"Keh…" Reikai should start watching over wars more closely, you never knew what sorts of powers or intentions were driving it. And he grinned and let out a barking laugh as he concluded that reikai didn't matter anymore.

It was only through their stupidity that he was returning home.

They were _all_ returning home.

.x.IiiI.x.

Ayame huffed and looked up from under her bangs with a smile. Kouga was grimly proud, standing as a warrior with battle scars to prove he had fought for this day. The wolves around them were wagging their tails like puppies, but they too were scarred and battle weary…for their miko.

Inuyasha was as uncouth and cursing as ever, but his face was smiling and Ayame could practically see the pride wavering off his form.

Sesshoumaru stood as stoic as ever, but there was a pleased glint she had only seen in his eyes after a particularly good hunt, for his exile left him with nothing but the hunt as he became a ghost like legend in the immediate makai.

Ayame swallowed and finally looked to Shippou, having to bypass all the other demons and hanyou and allies that had joined and believed for the better part of their lives…and even glossed over those who didn't have to believe because they _knew_; Jinenji, Totousai was hiding somewhere, Shiori the bat hanyou, Souten…Ayame shook her head, wondering if they were all somewhat enemies of the kind miko at one point in their life.

But Shippou, who once stole from Kagome and ran from her, he was standing with his hands crossed over his chest, face tilted to the sky and eyes sparkling as he gazed over the masses in formal array. Ayame sighed, but the smile fought its way onto her lips as she watched him.

Such a proud family that miko had.

And then she ginned, pushing aside all her doubts and worries, because it was time for the family reunion.

.x.IiiI.x.

Shippou began laughing as the formal energy lessened and the exultant air of achievement and joy ran through all the ranks. Shippou could feel her, and his laugh was taken up by many of the others before there were shouts of greetings and lively proclamations ringing through what was once an awe silenced field where makai and reikai and ningenkai had met.

He grinned insanely, rolling his head on his neck before he spun on spot – to see the reactions of all his comrades; Sesshoumaru stood with his chin out in pride and contemplation and the wolf lord and Ayame were grinning and flushing humbly as those of the more wolven forms danced about their feet with wagging tails, the earthly Jinenji sat and lumbered out a breathy sigh with his eyes glittering and face tilting with a smile from his superior birds eye view, and he saw Inuyasha and the young Shiori happily bickering about how Kagome had figured out a way around the barriers that they would have never thought of, mainly because they weren't used to working in tandem with the other spiritually aware.

'_Let it be their mistake,_' he thought rather vindictively, '_but let ours be weakness only in the joy of having our miko and friend among us again.'_

.x.IiiI.x.

Sesshoumaru smirked as he felt Jinenji lumber out a pleased sigh, and felt his eyes glint with inner mischief when the kitsune grinned like only his kind could. He took a deep breath and ignored all this, searching out the aura of their miko and finding it as if it was one solitary and proud island in the daunting sea.

His eyes softened and he focused them to find her in the mass of bodies and movement, but only had to follow the very enthusiastic form of a certain red kitsune to the front of the ranks facing their demon gathered.

Sesshoumaru smiled and tilted his head as he watched her greeting, and found as he walked to greet her that he couldn't control that slight tilt of his lips.

The two soul sibs were always amusing when you put them together after all.

As long as they knew he wasn't to be a target for any antics… (And as he glanced at Kagome and saw her trembling face he amended that thought and walked a more brisk pace, thankful for his aura that parted the crowd so he could reach their miko faster) _and_ as long as she was content.

He growled slightly and then purposefully walked the now clear path to their miko, not able to help his eyes softening or the quicker pace in his step.

Kagome needed them… _All_ of them.

And so be it.

.x.IiiI.x.

There was an animated shout, then the vague form of some tailed demon bounding through the broken ranks and dodging the dawdling wayfarers as they slowly started to mingle with the other race. Kurama watched as the male broke through the invisible line that had kept the crowd from Kagome, and watched her face light up with her smile and her eyes sparkle like he hadn't seen them before- even when she had mischievously averted their questions and curiosity.

Her laughter rang out, joined by the male as he jumped right up to her and lifted her into such a bone breaking hug that had Kurama surprised either of them _didn't_ break any bones- for the forceful hug was returned whole heartedly by the miko herself. She was spun in the air, settled own briefly with the demons hands on her shoulders before he grinned and pulled her into another jarring hug.

"Kagome! I am soooo happy to see you! You wouldn't believe how hard it was to stay around these losers when all I could think about was your kind grace and unfading beauty." The redheaded man pulled back and swooned dramatically, one hand delicately braced against his forehead and the other clutched over his heart.

Kagome smiled and shook her head, slapping the demon in the shoulder. "You know Shippou-chan, I think that would work better if you were shorter and still called me sister."

Kurama took a step back and tilted his head… _'A kitsune?'_

The red kitsune grinned how only a fellow kitsune could- charming and menacing all rolled into one flash of teeth and jaunty tilt of the chin. "Sooo, Kagome-neechan. Is that better?"

Kurama was shocked to note her blue eyes wetting with tears, and then watch as the kitsune calmed down with a gentle and understanding smile as he stepped closer to the miko and pulled her into a more serious hug. He touched her face and then his hands went down to pull her own up and place them on his cheeks firmly.

"Kagome-neechan, I _am_ here. We all are, and you can't cry right now because you are clouding the sapphires I still haven't stolen."

The miko gave a watery chuckle before she tried valiantly to smile at Shippou.

A low rumbling voice spoke up from behind them all. "You should know kit, that she won't let you touch her eyes." There was a considering pause. "And she needs to get her tears out, even for such petty fears as never seeing us again." There was a note of exasperation in the voice, and Kurama turned his head slightly to look at the speaker and shocked himself into stasis. "The Heiwa no Miko should know that her Eschew are not so easily defeated."

'_Holy shit! The Sesshoumaru is actually at this kind of gathering…! Inari-sama must…oooh, no wonder.'_

'_Youko…?_' Kurama's response was dazed, and he back up a step involuntarily as more youkai and Sesshoumaru stepped forth.

'_I had thought…no,'_ a veiled glance at Hiei, '_we had all been thinking of an awakened reincarnation due to the crisis circumstance of being trapped…and then scrolls and history available to train her due to her residence at the Higure shrine….' _Youko hunched over his shoulders, hands cupping his elbows and eyes darting about their mind space, as if the answers were hiding in the shadows of thought.

'_Youko, you are not saying that this is the original?'_

Youko grinned as Hiei's eyes slid over to them with a knowing smirk.

Kurama shook his head and gave in.

'_She knows the kitsune _personally_, that is why she was immune to us when we were questioning her.'_ The silver sent a speculating glance over the other demons that had mingled into the mass of spiritual ningen. _'I have no doubt that she is the original,' _he clapped his hands together and smiled with glee, _'now we need to figure out how and why she got all these unusual allies.'_

Their mutual musing was cut off as Shikato and Souta ran off with a shout. He only vaguely followed them to the form of a silver haired inu-hanyou…and then the looming mass of the ever reputed Jinenji stood up from his already considerable seated height and lumbered his way over to Sesshoumaru and a conversing Higurashi son.

He felt his teammates being drawn into chary conversations, heard the relaxed murmurings of races (race**_s_** get that!) mingling together with only the initial awkwardness of strangers meeting and not some clashing of doomed races fated to kill and maim and fear…

'_King Enma is going to have a fit…'_ And Youko grinned insanely.

Kurama chuckled half heartedly, casually turning his head to watch the miko of peace, the _original _Miko of Peace, walk up to him with a smile and a relaxed and amused contentment in her eyes.

He regarded her with amusement, as he noted the group of unaware humans clamoring about at the entrance in confusion and panic. He let out a snort of laughter and Kagome grinned sadly without looking where his attention lay. "They make fools of themselves quite easily don't they?"

Kurama let his smile soften and his head tilt to regard her from under his bangs. "I would think that the Miko of Peace wasn't prone to such thoughts."

She snorted and grinned, like any other normal person in the world, as she turned to fully face him. "I'm only human." And then her smile softened as her eyes caught the sight of the races mixing and talking and laughing.

"You are a human who had contact with demons before the barrier, hardly normal."

"It's nice isn't it?" She completely subverted his implied question, and he smiled at Youko's laughter in his mind.

"I have never seen the races so, you are certain this was the better path?"

Her smile turned grim. "It wasn't the easier path, but it is the right one."

Kurama turned to her with silent regard, wondering how those words took on such a vindictive tone- like history was coming to haunt them for their mistakes and she was only trying to make them look around at their stupidity.

She glanced up at him before looking away, her eyes flashing such a solid blue that he startled and his eyes widened. "I have told many people about dust and ashes, things that are forgotten or viewed as mere nuisances." She sighed and her head titled, hair falling over her shoulder and face going content as she watched everyone again. "Humans were once prey and vermin, demons were menaces and myth- and what they once were, both races, was forgot."

Kurama tilted his head… "You think they should remember and coexist?"

She shook her head. "I think that now they _can_ coexist without needing to remember. There have not been any race wars for centuries, there is no prejudice on the sides of the humans to fuel any bias, and the demons I have in control of Makai are all rather open-minded." She snorted at some inner joke as she looked in the direction of Jinenji and Sesshoumaru.

"That will be a hard path." _'And she knows it.'_

She nodded her head absently before her eyes flashed and she snapped her attention to him. "At least no one is forgotten."

Youko watched her through his eyes, taking in the firm set of her limbs and high tilt of her chin- the unmistakable wetness of her eyes. '_I dare say that once…she was forgot…'_

Kurama took a deep breath… "When were you forgotten?"

Her startled eyes turned to him, and he marveled at catching her off guard when she had always been impervious previously. He watched her swallow with a watery smile. "Once, in the process of my hospital stay only one of my family remembered my promises, once I was in love and set aside for the better woman, once I was told that I was dreaming and that my knowledge was of no use, once I had a father who is now nothing more than a stranger, and once…" she looked at him softly. "Once I was remembered, and it has made all the difference."

Kurama was about to attempt offering comfort in some phrase or other, but Kagome displayed her kitsune qualities again and changed the subject without any indication she was ardently doing so to still both their discomfort- she laughed. "I always did think my brother should join the track team."

Youko observed her sharply from his mind space, noting with a small rather affectionate smile that she was changing the subject more for their ease than hers…

He barked out a laugh as he saw the convenient distraction in her brother. Souta was running along with a laughing Shikato, the kitsune Shippou happily chasing their heels and letting out teasing words and taunting laughs.

Souta spotted his sister and his face lit up, but Kagome stuck out her tongue at him and started laughing at his now panicking expression.

Kurama laughed as Souta rushed by, yelling at his sister as she continued laughing and then encouraged Shippou with some well worded praise. The three boys continued, and Kurama watched with some surprise and awed satisfaction as they wove and played through the mingling ranks…and eased any tension there was.

Ningens watched and smiled, letting down their subtly tense shoulders and turning those smiles to demons; demons honestly laughed in affection and amusement, opening their hearts to the humans. Kurama gaped at the almost imperceptible change in the crowd, realizing that the kits' playing allowed everyone to relax because it was something all races would enjoy.

Kurama smiled wryly as he watched and relaxed, and welcomed the familiar presence of his taller teammate amidst all this new energy and commotion. Kurama looked up to find his larger friend smiling, his eyes glinting and fists clenching with his held in emotion…pride.

Kurama raised an eyebrow and Kuwabara sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he smiled wider. "What has you so happy?" He inquired half heartedly, distracted once again by the playing teens as more children with abilities joined in and an impromptu game of tag began.

Yusuke was weaving his way through the crowd to them, and Kurama was sure that Hiei would be there in any moment. Kuwabara chuckled and then turned his smiling face down to look straight at him, and Kurama was startled by the intensity that man was displaying.

Kuwabara was in the habit of not meeting your face directly during every day conversation and activities; rather he would gaze at the ground or your shoulder or the sky, a way to minimize his naturally intimidating height…

But with his gaze focused on you and his naturally intense eyes against his tan skin… He smiled again and his eyes softened. "I was just thinking how privileged we were."

Kurama chuckled at the smooth confession, gazing at his comrade as the other two that made the four that were almost one family came to their sides. Kuwabara was a man of few and simple words, and when he was truly passionate and honest about something intricacies in his personality emerged that colored his speech and made others look at him askance. Sometimes he still surprised Kurama himself.

"What exactly is the privilege? Being here? Being allowed to be here even with our allegiance to reikai?"

Yusuke snorted something derogatory under his breath and Koenma looked up from his confused conversation a little ways away with an angry look as if he could actually tell that Yusuke was bad mouthing him.

Kurama shook his head, feeling his hair move across the back of his neck as he briefly focused around him with his senses before he completely tuned into his large teammate as he spoke. "I never really thought of it…but she was judging us."

Yusuke looked at him like he was crazy and spoke in an almost growl that came easy to him, "That's stupid, her and her family are the most accepting I've ever met."

Kuwabara shook his head, brows furrowing as he tried to explain it better. "I mean that, okay yeah she was accepting us, but she was trying to see if _we_ could be _here_." Kuwabara shivered slightly and then a goofy smile spread across his face.

Kurama sent a sharp glance to Hiei who had an odd look on his face, as if he was stunned by the direction of his thoughts.

Kurama shook his head with the direction of his thoughts, and chuckled as it all fell together. He turned his head sharply t the laughter of the miko, watching her brother bicker with Shippou playfully in front of her and Shikato watch with a confused and amused expression.

Yukio, her mother's betrothed, stood at her side with a happy but small smile on his lips, and he nudged the miko to the tantei's direction when he noticed Kurama's attention.

She chuckled warmly before it faded as her steps drew her closer, and Kurama watched with some amusement and curiosity as their gathered circle of friends seemed to naturally part and let her stand with them…like she already was one of them.

He shook his head at the startling change that thought was, and turned wide eyes to the miko as she smiled happily at the grinning Kuwabara.

Hiei snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, but he refrained from commenting anything. Kurama smiled leisurely as he noticed this, and turned to the grumbling Yusuke as Kagome poked his side.

They started a teasing banter with the occasional comment coming from Kuwabara, and Kurama watched on amused as she seemed to enjoy it like these were her life lost brothers; the annoying younger brother Yusuke never taking a break from teasing and joking, the childish Kuwabara putting his two cents in against either sib depending on what mood he was in, Hiei the silent and mature older brother rolling his eyes at their antics but amused nonetheless…

'_And don't forget the ever loveable older sibling that presides over them all with sound advice and cunning.'_ Youko put in helpfully with a gleam in his eye.

Kurama sighed in long suffering, used to his arrogance…

'_Arrogance!_' Youko backed up playfully, raising his fist theatrically and growling in jest. '_I'll show you arrogance little upstart!_ _We _are_ far older and more mature than they! Goes to show that _I _am more suited for the role…_' he gave a particularly haughty sniff with a toss of his head, and Kurama couldn't help but smile at the barb as he returned to reality.

Hiei had joined in on the shenanigans of the trio, and Kurama wrinkled his nose in amusement before he too added in a dry comment of his own- to which all three more ningen of their group stuck their tongue out simultaneously.

Kurama let out his laugh, head thrown back and hands on his belly all out there laugh, because he realized and pondered and hoped…

He could hear Ms. Higurashi with her calm placating ways, hushing the gathering crowd at the entrance gates and reassuring them with her odd nature, saw the elderly Higurashi-jiichan gesturing wildly and telling of heroic and peaceful and awe-inspiring tales to balance out the fear and prejudice and hate.

They were starting a revolution…they had been gearing up for this mostly peaceful revolution since ages past Youko and any other demon he could recall. They had been securing alliances and battling youkai and sending messages and preparing with little regard from Reikai in the makai for years beyond human years. The ningenkai had been waiting and watching and doubting but hopeful for generations, watching for the signs and then rejoicing when finally prophecies and dreams and the future came to pass.

'_One would think that we would have at least heard rumors…_' Youko mused, thinking back hard on his stint as a bandit and trying to recall and hint of rumors that would indicate such a large scale upheaval.

'_But the leaders of Reikai have been paranoid, Koenma hinted at so.'_ Kurama turned his attention to Youko and the friends he had around him, watching with his silver counterpart as Kagome looked at them and founds something in them, watching as her eyes lit up and she smiled and everything was okay.

And his teammates jeered and laughed and chortled…at ease and talking and enjoying life.

Kurama watched it all with calculating eyes, and wondered.

Youko's input was tentative, something that caught Kurama's attention more than anything else he could have done. _'I dare say that …I like this family_.' Youko shifted with serious eyes to look across the mass of demons and ningen. _'Kuwabara was right when he said they were good people, and …_' He grinned happily. '_I think it would be rather fun getting to know them more, now that the secret is fully out. Especially since they make reikai look like fools so easily!'_

Kurama shook his head with a bemused smile, catching Kagome's own bemused smile as she watched him.

She bowed her head, deferring to his thoughts and turning to start another conversation with Hiei.

Kurama watched her with a sort of proprietary interest, noting that she had dreamed all this although the concept was too great in his mind and he pushed the fact aside until he could convince himself at a later date.

One woman had dreamed of the unification of the worlds and the reestablishment of the old ways…with new people in power.

There would be no more ningens using their exclusive knowledge of the makai for their own greedy gain, no more demons preying on unsuspecting humans when they escaped into the ningenkai, no more reikai spirits lost in the barrier between…

And his mother…his mother would be safer and she could know.

Kurama smiled, smoothly flowing into the conversation and laughing when Yusuke got a disgruntled face- the object of their teasing.

Smiling as Kuwabara and Yusuke got into yet another fisticuff.

Smirking with Hiei as the little pyro casually used his foot to trip the two brawling men over.

And his face gentling with understanding as Kagome stood at his side and caught his attention. "Do you think your mother will enjoy this new world?"

He held in his surprise at her knowledge, belatedly realizing that she was the leader of a revolution, she would need to know all she could about people that she wanted to stand by her side. "I think, and I hope, that she will enjoy it as much as her son will."

She smiled as she heard something she wanted to, like she usually found something she wanted to find. "There will be a slow process of mixing, I want to make sure that neither culture is lost in a stupid mesh, but we need the time to get used to everything first, so the barrier is still a wisp there. Everyone will be safe as it comes down gradually and connections are established."

Kurama smiled as the thought struck him. "Sounds like another adventure for you."

She grinned like any other kitsune could. "I can't wait," she turned her large odd colored eyes up to him with a dimmer but still vibrant smile- like she would give all the secrets in the world to him should he ask. "Are you up for it?"

Youko and Kurama both paused in unison to regard her, ignoring the taunts of Hiei as he jeered on the two brawling humans. There was a beat of his heartbeat in the silence of his mind… before Youko laughed in glee and threw his head back as he held his belly. _'I love this woman! Kurama get her back for questioning our courage!'_

Kurama grinned, letting his more kitsune qualities emerge before he lunged for Kagome. She squealed in response and dodged quickly, and it started another game of tag, others joining in more enthusiastically when they realized it was two responsible _adults_ who were participating.

Kurama had the kitsune Shippou at his side, the surprisingly fast Souta on his other, and a gaggle of mixed children laughing and running with him.

And as he caught Kagome, her quickly tagging what looked to be a shy little bat hanyou, and he held her in his arms as he watched the crowd and felt the peace.

'_This adventure…will be worth it.'_

Kurama nodded his head solemnly, feeling Kagome sigh and relax against him as she watched what she had made possible.

After all, there had been a giant step in history, a giant step in the now, and the future held promise.

Her spirit had made it so, her dreams birthed form her love and soul had captured the hearts of others and drawn them to a future that hoped for peace that didn't seem so far away anymore.

Kurama smiled and leaned his chin on the top of Kagome's head, watching with a smile out of the corner of his eye as Shikato held a fuming Souta back, and he decided that no matter how many surprises this woman provided, they were all rather worth it.

He _knew_ they were worth it.

It was spread out in front of him.

And her spirit smiled at it.

And he smiled …because he could see her dreams.

And he didn't need to see anything else.

…XXENDXX…

It was the irony of ironies, that the infamous bandit thief held a peaceful miko in his arms and dreamed of a future where he wouldn't have to steal or fight at all.

We won't mention what else he was dreaming about, but know that they were pleasant dreams; after all, he did have the Heiwa no Miko in his arms. (And she was quite the looker!)

Happy Endings!

.x.x.x.**XIiiIX.**x.x.x.

Not the way I wanted it to end, but you get the idea. Hope you enjoyed it!

Now I am going to be taking a brief hiatus away from writing since I have to apply for college and get my money all set straight. So I bid you adieu and thank you for sticking with me through my story!

Thanks for all the thoughtful reviews and thanks doubly so for the opportunity to explore my creative and unorthodox side. And don't despair! holds up fist triumphantly for I foresee many more one shots and maybe gasp a two shot in the near future. (Even though I swore I would never attempt another such big project again grumbles about plot bunnies)

So toodles (for now) and I hope that this meets your expectations!

**P**_S_; yes there is romance in there….veeeery lightly hinted at. You all have imaginations so just imagine Kagome and Kurama getting together in the new world I have created. **M**u_a_**ha**_h__a**h**a_h!

(OOoooh! KAg/Kur; They're like the perfect couple to promote the decision to remove the barrier! Wow! Imagine that…Maybe Mishka ain't so Crazy after all…)

And to all those who don't have imagination… (I pity you) they work out their feelings and live happily with the somewhat encouraging relationship of their respective family (a confused Shiori, Souta convinced Kurama ain't good enough, and Eschew always interrupting with questions for their honorable miko of peace… Youko; Wait, why are we in love with her again? AN; a pretty shiny puzzle with veteran eyes…Youko; oh, yeah)

Nonetheless…a happy ending. No?

Or you could imagine she fell in love with Hiei. There.

**OWARI**


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